That's how much revenue the largest arms companies in the world make

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US manufacturer Lockheed Martin's Himar missile launcher

Photo: Petra News Agency / dpa

With the sale of weapons and military services, the top 100 arms companies will have sales of $592 billion in 2021.

This emerges from data that the Stockholm Institute for Peace Research Sipri has now published.

The researchers recorded an increase in sales of 1.9 percent compared to the previous year.

According to the institute, the business of the arms companies grew for the seventh time in a row.

The growth rate in 2021 was higher than in the previous year.

However, it was significantly lower than in the years before Corona.

The pandemic also caused problems for the defense industry in 2021.

Corona-related disruptions in global supply chains led to delays and bottlenecks in important individual parts.

"Without the ongoing problems in the supply chains, we could have expected an even stronger increase in arms sales for 2021," says Sipri expert Lucie Béraud-Sudreau.

War in Ukraine exacerbates the problems

The war in Ukraine is likely to exacerbate these problems.

The Russian attack on the neighboring country at the end of February this year presented the arms companies with even greater supply chain problems - not least because Russia is one of the most important suppliers of raw materials used in arms production.

This could hamper efforts by the US and European countries to strengthen their armed forces and replenish depots.

The concern is all the more urgent after many Western countries have shipped billions of dollars worth of ammunition and other equipment to Ukraine.

"Should the supply chain problems continue, it could take some of the most important arms manufacturers years to meet the demand created by the war in Ukraine," says Sipri researcher Diego Lopes da Silva.

The war affects Russian arms companies in a different way.

They have reportedly ramped up production because of the conflict.

However, according to Sipri, they have enormous difficulties in getting hold of semiconductors.

In addition, the financial sanctions imposed by the West in the wake of the Russian invasion are hitting companies hard.

The Almas-Antei group announced that it could not receive payments for some of its arms exports.

US companies dominate - but their sales are shrinking

Of the 100 largest defense companies in the world, 40 are based in the USA.

Since 2018, the five arms companies with the highest sales have always come from the country.

The USA continues to dominate the armaments industry.

However, according to Sipri, the sales of the 40 US companies fell by almost one percent in 2021.

North America was thus the only region in the world that recorded a decline in arms sales compared to the previous year.

According to the Stockholm researchers, this was partly due to high inflation in the US economy in 2021.

As in the previous year, the five arms companies with the highest sales are the US companies Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Boeing, Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics.

As in 2020, the British company BAE Systems and four Chinese groups will follow.

Europe: aircraft down, ships up

The Italian company Leonardo sold more in 2021 than any other company from the EU.

It ranks twelfth worldwide.

As the largest German arms company, Rheinmetall is in 31st place globally.

A total of 27 of the top 100 armaments companies in terms of sales are based in Europe.

According to Sipri, they turned over 123 billion dollars in 2021 – an increase of a good four percent compared to the previous year.

The researchers write that most European armaments companies that specialize in the construction of aircraft have had to contend with losses.

Shipbuilders, on the other hand, recorded growth.

Chinese companies are growing, Russian ones are stagnating

21 of the arms companies with the highest sales came from Asia in 2021.

Their turnover was $136 billion, an increase of almost six percent.

The eight Chinese companies on the list have sales of $109 billion, up more than 6 percent year-on-year.

According to the Stockholm researchers, the CSSC group, number 15 in the Sipri ranking, has become the largest military shipbuilder in the world.

The South Korean company Hanwha Aerospace made a good seven and a half percent more sales than in the previous year: a total of 2.6 billion dollars.

It is one of four South Korean companies in the top 100. Its sales are expected to increase significantly in the coming years.

The reason: After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Hanwha Aerospace made a significant arms deal with Poland.

Six Russian companies can be found in the current Sipri report among the largest armaments companies in the world.

At $17.9 billion, their sales were less than half a percent higher than the previous year.

The Stockholm experts write that there are signs of stagnation in the entire Russian arms industry.

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