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Asia buys more weapons as security outlook darkens
The annual Asia-Pacific Regional Security Assessment released on Wednesday by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) said outside industrial help remains vital even as regional nations ultimately aim for self-reliance.
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A Harimau medium tank made by state-owned land weapons maker PT Pindad (right) is parked next to Pandur II 8x8 infantry fighting vehicle at the National Monument (Monas) in Central Jakarta on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. Defense Deputy Minister M. Herindra handed over symbolically more than 700 weapons to the Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. Agus Subianto ahead of the TNI 79th anniversary on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (kompas.com/PT Pindad)
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pending on weapons and research is spiking among some Asian countries as they respond to a darkening security outlook by broadening their outside industrial partnerships while trying to boost their own defence industries, a new study has found.
The annual Asia-Pacific Regional Security Assessment released on Wednesday by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) said outside industrial help remains vital even as regional nations ultimately aim for self-reliance.
"Recent conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, coupled with worsening U.S.-China strategic competition and deterioration of the Asia-Pacific security landscape, may lead to a rising tide of defence-industrial partnerships," it read.
"Competitive security dynamics over simmering flashpoints ... feed into the need to develop military capabilities to address them."
Spending on defence procurement and research and development rose $2.7 billion between 2022 and 2024, it showed, to reach $10.5 billion among Southeast Asia's key nations of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The spike comes even as the nations spent an average of 1.5% of GDP on defence in 2024, a figure that has kept relatively constant over the last decade.
The study, released ahead of this weekend's annual Shangril-La Dialogue in Singapore, said Asia-Pacific nations still rely on imports for most key weapons and equipment.
