Arms Holding & Forces

Welcome to the IDDS World Arms Database open site. The IDDS Database is the only regularly updated reference source that shows worldwide arms holdings, production, and trade dynamically, putting today's weapons and forces in the context of past trends and likely future developments. It is also the only source that fully integrates and reconciles information on worldwide production, trade, acquisition, and holdings by weapon type. For the systems covered, the IDDS World Arms Database brings together in concise form more quantitative and qualitative data than any other source.

Access to the Database: We offer quick on-line access to the IDDS Database, at no charge, through the 2-Variable Report Generator. The 2-Variable Report Generator lets users create and download tables derived from our Quantitative files (Holdings or Acquisition, Production, and Trade) by any two of the following fields:original designing-producing region, country, or company; holding or importing region or country; generic weapon type (for example, F-16 fighter aircraft); or current role (for example, all maritime patrol aircraft in a given region or country).

If you need more detailed information by model, military service, or licensed producer, or if you would like access to a more powerful report generator, you may want to subscribe to the IDDS Database Multi-Variable Report Generator, available on line. We also offer The Complete IDDS World Arms Database on CD. This includes all of the roughly 10,000 records, the Multi-Variable Report Generator (in mySQL), and various supplementary files. (See the Price List for details on format, prices, and discounts.)

Coverage: The IDDS Database compiles information on the types, numbers, and features of major weapon systems held, produced, acquired, imported or exported for every country in the world for the decades 1972-1982 and 1982-1992 and for each year since 1992. At present, the Database covers the major weapon platforms that form the backbone of ground, air, and naval forces: that is, tanks, fixed-wing military aircraft, and naval ships. Over time, we hope to add helicopters, UAVs, artillery, armored personnel carriers, and missiles. Index of Systems gives a complete list of the tanks, aircraft, and ship classes covered in the quantitative and qualitative files, with cross-references to various names and designations.

Structure: IDDS World Arms Database comprises nine main files designed for use in spreadsheet software such as Excel, or six files for use with relational database software, such as Access (see the list of files below). There are two Quantitative spreadsheet files each for aircraft, ships, and tanks: one for Holdings, the other for Acquisitions, Production, and Trade. (For database software, the Holdings and Acquisition Data for each platform appear in a single quantitative file.) The Holdings files cover estimated holdings for 1972, 1982, each year from 1992 through 2001, and projected holdings for 2005 and 2010. The Acquisition, Production, and Trade files cover each year from 1993 to 2000, and projected acquisitions and production for the five-year periods 2001-2005 and 2006-2010.

There is also one Qualitative file each for aircraft, ships, and tanks. The qualitative files contain detailed information on each type of aircraft or tank and each class of ship (such as the F-15 fighter aircraft, or the Los Angeles class submarine). The qualitative files also include separate records to show the different features of major modifications of types or classes (such as the F-15E). The Qualitative files cover all weapon systems currently in service or under development. These files provide information on producers, designations, physical specifications, performance features, and production history. See Database Fields for a complete list of the fields in each file.

The quantitative and qualitative files use a unique identifier for each weapon system, so that the information from the two sets of files on aircraft, tanks, and ships can be integrated in relational database software.

File Names and Sample Records: The file names are shown below, along with the number of records and the number of fields in each file. In addition, there are links to a set of sample files for China, Database Files for China, which illustrate the general style of Database contents and format.

Sources: To the greatest extent possible, IDDS staff members rely on primary source material from government and industry sources, supplemented with information from unofficial sources.

IDDS WORLD ARMS DATABASE: CURRENT FILES

To the greatest extent possible, IDDS staff members rely on primary source material from government and industry sources, supplemented with information from unofficial sources.

The IDDS World Arms Database comprises nine main files designed for use in spreadsheet software (six files use with relational database software). The file names are shown below, along with file sizes in spreadsheet format, and the number of records and number of fields in each file. All Holdings files cover 1972, 1982, each year from 1992 through 2000, and projected holdings for 2001, 2005, and 2010. All Acquisition and Production files cover each year from 1993 to 2000, and projected acquisitions and production for the periods 2001, 2001-2005, and 2006-2010. The Qualitative files provide information on producers, designations, physical specifications, performance features, and production history for all systems shown as currently in service or projected in the Holdings and Acquisition files. All files are provided on CD in two formats, one intended for use in spreadsheet software, the other designed for import into relational World Arms Database software.