Arms transfers cover the supply of military weapons through sales, aid, gifts, and those made through manufacturing licenses. Data cover major conventional weapons such as aircraft, armored vehicles, artillery, radar systems, missiles, and ships designed for military use. Excluded are transfers of other military equipment such as small arms and light weapons, trucks, small artillery, ammunition, support equipment, technology transfers, and other services.
National Armed Forces (Nacionalo Brunoto Speku): Ground Forces, Navy (Latvijas Juras Speki; includes Coast Guard (Latvijas Kara Flotes)), Latvian Air Force (Latvijas Gaisa Speki), Border Guard, Latvian Home Guard (Latvijas Zemessardze)
Army, Royal Navy (includes Royal Marines), Royal Air Force
DEFINITION:
The names of the ground, naval, air, marine, and other defense or security forces
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, Switzerland, 1997. Data collected from the nations concerned, unless otherwise indicated. Acronyms: Amnesty International (AI); European Council of Conscripts Organizations (ECCO); Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC); International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHFHR); National Interreligious Service Board for Conscientious Objectors (NISBCO); Service, Peace and Justice in Latin America (SERPAJ); War Resisters International (WRI); World Council of Churches (WCC)
Conventional arms transfers (1990 prices) - Imports (US$ millions)
Refers to the voluntary transfer by the supplier (and thus excludes captured weapons and weapons obtained through defectors) of weapons with a military purpose destined for the armed forces, paramilitary forces or intelligence agencies of another country. These include major conventional weapons or systems in six categories: ships, aircraft, missiles, artillery, armoured vehicles and guidance and radar systems (excluded are trucks, services, ammunition, small arms, support items, components and component technology and towed or naval artillery under 100-millimetre calibre).
SOURCE:
SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute). 2005. SIPRI Arms Transfers. Database. February. Stockholm.
Military expenditures data from SIPRI are derived from the NATO definition, which includes all current and capital expenditures on the armed forces, including peacekeeping forces; defense ministries and other government agencies engaged in defense projects; paramilitary forces, if these are judged to be trained and equipped for military operations; and military space activities. Such expenditures include military and civil personnel, including retirement pensions of military personnel and social services for personnel; operation and maintenance; procurement; military research and development; and military aid (in the military expenditures of the donor country). Excluded are civil defense and current expenditures for previous military activities, such as for veterans' benefits, demobilization, conversion, and destruction of weapons. This definition cannot be applied for all countries, however, since that would require much more detailed information than is available about what is included in military budgets and off-budget military expenditure items. (For example, military budgets might or might not cover civil defense, reserves and auxiliary forces, police and paramilitary forces, dual-purpose forces such as military and civilian police, military grants in kind, pensions for military personnel, and social security contributions paid by one part of government to another.)
The number of draft-age males and females entering the military manpower pool in any given year and is a measure of the availability of draft-age young adults.
Armed forces personnel are active duty military personnel, including paramilitary forces if the training, organization, equipment, and control suggest they may be used to support or replace regular military forces.
Armed forces personnel are active duty military personnel, including paramilitary forces if the training, organization, equipment, and control suggest they may be used to support or replace regular military forces. Labor force comprises all people who meet the International Labour Organization's definition of the economically active population.
19 years of age for compulsory military service; conscript service obligation - 12 months; 18 years of age for volunteers; plans are to phase out conscription, tentatively moving to an all-professional force by 2007; under current law, every citizen is entitled to serve in the armed forces for life
16 years of age for voluntary military service
DEFINITION:
This entry gives the required ages for voluntary or conscript military service and the length of sevice obligation.
Latvia acceded to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention in February 1997 and joined the Australia Group in June 2004. There is no evidence to suggest that Riga possesses or is developing biological weapons.
Under its former biological warfare program (1936-1956), the United Kingdom weaponized anthrax and conducted research on the pathogens that cause plague and typhoid fever, as well as botulinum toxin. The United Kingdom no longer has an offensive biological weapons program, although its defensive biological program is strong. On March 28, 2005, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Russia issued a joint statement in affirmation of their support for the BTWC and called on all remaining countries not party to the BWC to implement and comply with the pact. London ratified the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention in March 1975.
DEFINITION:
A description of the nation's situation with regards to the possession and manufacture of biological weapons of mass destruction
Latvia is a signatory to the Chemical Weapons Convention and joined the Australia Group in June 2004. There is no evidence that Riga possesses or seeks to develop chemical weapons.
The United Kingdom's World War II stockpile of chemical warfare (CW) agents included phosgene, mustard gas, and lewisite. However, the United Kingdom renounced its chemical weapons program in 1957 and subsequently destroyed its chemical stockpiles. The United Kingdom formally backed the U.S.-initiated Proliferation Security Initiative in 2004 and has participated in joint exercises to practice intercepting and boarding ships engaged in weapons proliferation, including chemical weapons. In addition, the United Kingdom continues to give monetary assistance to Moscow for the dismantlement of Russia's chemical weapons stockpile. Britain ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in May 1996.
DEFINITION:
A description of the nation's situation with regards to the possession and manufacture of chemical weapons of mass destruction
Latvian facilities that once supplied the former Soviet Union with commodities controlled by the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), such as thermal protection materials for spaceships, electronics, radars, and sensors for missiles, no longer produce or export such items. Latvia has a List of Dual-Use Goods and Technologies and controls the export of other domestically-produced components that could be used to build aircraft and missiles.
The United Kingdom's sole nuclear deterrent is based on four new Vanguard-class submarines, each outfitted to carry 16 U.S.-supplied Trident II sea-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) and 48 warheads. Britain shares a pool of missiles with the United States at the Strategic Weapons Facility Atlantic, Kings Bay Submarine Base, Georgia. The Royal Navy retrieves missiles from the U.S. storage area and places warheads on the missiles onboard. Missiles are serviced by the United States. Although Britain has title to 58 SLBMs, it technically does not own them. The nuclear role of Britain's Tornado aircraft was terminated in 1998, bringing to an end a four-decade history of Royal Air Force aircraft carrying nuclear weapons. In 2004, British and U.S. officials conducted negotiations concerning the development of new "mini-nukes" to replace Britain's aging Trident system, a politically sensitive subject in the country.
DEFINITION:
A description of the nation's situation with regards to the possession and manufacture of missile weapons of mass destruction
The Latvian Institute of Nuclear Physics at Salaspils, located 20 miles from Riga, houses a 5MW research reactor and a zero power reactor. On 25 May 2005, 2.5kg of fresh HEU fuel were removed from the Salaspils reactor and returned to Russia. The timeline for removing the spent fuel stored at Salaspils is less certain, however. Latvia is a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and party to both the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). In addition, Riga has signed an Additional Protocol with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The United Kingdom is a nuclear weapon state party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The UK's current stockpile is thought to consist of less than 200 strategic and "sub-strategic" warheads on Vanguard-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBN). The Strategic Defense Review of July 1998 called for major changes in the United Kingdom's nuclear weapons program. Air-delivered weapons were removed from service, leaving the SSBNs as the United Kingdom's only nuclear deterrent. The Review mandated that only one submarine be on patrol at a time, with its missiles detargeted and with a reduced number of warheads (maximum of 48). On May 1, 2004, the Nuclear Safeguards Act went into effect in the United Kingdom, providing necessary legislation for the enforcement of the "additional protocol" designed to provide greater protection against nuclear non-proliferation. This protocol built on existing nuclear safeguards agreements with the IAEA. The United Kingdom ratified the NPT in November 1968 and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in June 1998.
DEFINITION:
A description of the nation's situation with regards to the possession and manufacture of nuclear weapons
Forcibly incorporated into the USSR in 1940, Latvia regained its independence in 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed. Latvia has since joined relevant international treaties, regimes, and organizations, including both NATO and the European Union in the spring of 2004. Latvia does not possess or produce nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons.
The United Kingdom is party to all major nonproliferation treaties and is a member of all major international export control regimes. The British government has made substantial reductions in its nuclear forces, partly due to changes in response to its July 1998 Strategic Defence Review. Though it once possessed biological and chemical warfare programs, London ended both programs in the mid-50s. Its limited missile program is now composed entirely of sea-launched missiles.
DEFINITION:
An overview of the nation's situation with regards to the possession and manufacture of weapons of mass destruction
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