Russia Exports $15 Billion In Weapons In 2012

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev fires a machine gun as he visits a weapons factory in Klimovsk outside Moscow in October 2012.

Russia says its weapons exports for 2012 totaled more than $15 billion.

Aleksandr Fomin of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation said on January 21 the country sold $15.16 billion of weapons last year, nearly 12 percent more than planned for the year.

Fomin said that figure was only "tentative estimates" and final sales figures would be released later this month or in early February.

He did not give details about individual countries' purchases of Russian arms but did mention that among new customers in 2012 were Ghana, Oman, Tanzania, and Afghanistan.

Fomin said Russian weapons manufacturers had contracts to supply more than $46 billion in weapons and weapons' technology in the coming years, again without providing details about countries purchasing the arms.

Based on reporting by Interfax and ITAR-TASS