Defense: here are the 10 companies that sell the most weapons in the world

War, unfortunately, is an increasingly lucrative business. This is the result of the annual report of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (or Sipri), which states that the sales of arms and military services of the world’s 100 largest defense companies will reach 592 billion euros in 2021. Compared to 2020, it increased by 1.9%. It is also the seventh year in a row that global arms sales have increased.

According to Sipri, American companies have dominated the defense sector and occupy the first five places in the ranking alone. At the very top of the podium we find military aerospace giant Lockheed Martin. In recent years, the group is known for developing the F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter jet. The industrialist has collected revenues of 67 billion euros in 2021, despite still failures in the news of flagship aircraft.

The silver medal is awarded to the Raytheon Technologies group, which in 2021 has collected revenues of about 42 billion euros. This industrialist works in the field of military aviation, but above all, he is famous for designing many types of missiles for the US military. The company thus produces anti-tank and anti-helicopter missiles, as well as anti-ship and anti-aircraft weapons. Recently, Raytheon Technologies began developing hypersonic missiles to catch up with America’s lag behind Russia and China.

Boeing finds itself on the last step of the podium, its military subsidiary has revenues of 35 billion euros. In the defense sector, the American group is best known for its fighter jets, the F-15 Strike Eagle and the F-18 Super Hornet. The manufacturer produced many other flying machines, such as the B-52 bomber or the Apache attack helicopter. The fourth place is occupied by Northrop Grumman with sales reaching 31 billion euros. The manufacturer recently unveiled its new sixth-generation stealth bomber: the B-21 Raider.

General Dynamics took the fifth place in the ranking with a revenue of 30 billion euros. This versatile group builds battle tanks such as the M1 Abrams, as well as Columbia-class nuclear submarines.

China is ranked sixth with the China Aviation Industry Corporation group. This state-owned company manufactures aircraft, but is best known for designing the J-20 stealth fighter, which aims to compete with America’s F-22 Raptor.

READ ALSO

Serbia is becoming the largest military drone operator in the Balkans

The British company BAE Systems is in seventh place in this ranking with a revenue of about 25 billion euros. The versatile group was involved in the design of the Royal Navy’s aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth and the Astute class submarines.

China’s state-owned enterprises China State Shipbuilding Corporation (18 billion euros in revenue) and China North Industries Group Corporation (17 billion euros in revenue) are ranked eighth and ninth, respectively. The former built the Beijing Navy’s brand new Fujian aircraft carrier, while the latter specializes in land defense and manufactures assault rifles, tanks and missiles.

The American company L3Harris Technologies closes this rating with sales reaching 14 billion euros. The group is mainly for its electronic warfare capabilities and military communications satellites. It should be noted that the French industrial company Thales is in the sixteenth place in the ranking with a revenue of 10 billion euros, and the Dassault group is in the twentieth place (sales of about 6 billion euros).

READ ALSO

Israel is completing a naval version of its famous Iron Dome