Editing Weapon (section)

== Manufacture of weapons ==
{{Main|Arms industry}}
[[File:Pantex ordance plant 1944-01-26.jpg|thumb|Ordnance being produced at [[Pantex]] in [[Amarillo, Texas|Amarillo]], [[Texas]], [[United States]], during World War II]]
The arms industry is a global industry that involves the sale and manufacture of weaponry. It consists of a [[commerce|commercial]] [[Industry (economics)|industry]] involved in the [[research and development]], [[engineering]], production, and servicing of [[military]] material, equipment, and facilities. Many [[industrialized countries]] have a domestic arms industry to supply their own military forces, and some also have a substantial trade in weapons for use by their citizens for self-defense, hunting, or sporting purposes.

Contracts to supply a given country's military are awarded by governments, making arms contracts of substantial political importance. The link between politics and the arms trade can result in the development of a "[[military–industrial complex]]", where the armed forces, commerce, and politics become closely linked.

According to research institute SIPRI, the volume of international transfers of major weapons in 2010–2014 was 16 percent higher than in 2005–2009,<ref>[https://www.sipri.org/media/press-release/2018/global-arms-industry-us-companies-dominate-top-100-russian-arms-industry-moves-second-place Global Arms Industry: US Companies Dominate Top 100 Arm Industry] SIPRI. Retrieved 2019-12-18.</ref> and the arms sales of the world's 100 largest private arms-producing and military services companies totaled $420 billion in 2018.<ref>[https://www.sipri.org/publications/2019/sipri-fact-sheets/sipri-top-100-arms-producing-and-military-services-companies-2018 The SIPRI Top 100 Arms-Producing and Military Service Companies 2018] SIPRI. Retrieved 2019-12-18.</ref>