Introduction
Ever since they recovered from the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997, nations surrounding the South China Sea have steadily increased their military arsenal through large-scale purchasing from arms-exporting nations, notably Russia, the United States, and certain European nations such as France and the UK. Below is a 5-year timeline depicting major purchases of each state during each particular year. Notes on the supplier, the number ordered/delivered, and current status or comments are included. Click on a year to begin.
Notes
- The data listed on each year is the military hardware that is either ordered or delivered for that year. If the 'number delivered' is zero, it means that the part is ordered, but is not yet delivered.
- There may be links on a specific item in a table. The link may go to a relevant news article describing the sale.
- Detailed specifications on the military hardware purchased may be found at the Federation of American Scientists.
Conclusion and General Summary of Trends
Throughout the period 1999-2004 we have seen large-scale procuring of high-technology military hardware from export countries, primarily the United States, Russia, and European nations including France, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Italy. Southeast Asian nations, especially China, Malaysia and Singapore have made an attempt to strengthen their underwater military capabilities, most usually in terms of conventional submarines. Nations such as China, Singapore and Taiwan have been focusing on strenghtening their blue water navy capabilities by purchasing new destroyers and frigates. Every Southeast Asian country around the South China Sea, with the exception of the Philippines, has made effort to acquire some amount of advanced 4th generation military aircraft from an outside source, with China and Taiwan leading the pack.
