On December 4, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said that arms sales revenue of the world's top 100 largest arms and military services companies last year reached only 597 billion USD, down 3.5% compared to 2021.
Ukrainian soldiers fire an NLAW anti-tank weapon in the Donetsk region, Ukraine. Photo: AP
“Many arms companies face obstacles in increasing production for periods of high-intensity warfare,” explains Lucie Béraud-Sudreau, director of the SIPRI Arms Production and Military Expenditure Programme.
According to SIPRI, the 42 US companies on the list (accounting for 51% of total arms sales) saw their 2022 revenue fall by 7.9% to $302 billion, with 32 of them reporting a year-on-year decline in arms sales, mostly due to supply chain issues and labor shortages following the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are starting to see a new wave of orders related to the conflict in Ukraine,” said Nan Tian, senior researcher at SIPRI.
Accordingly, several major US companies, including Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Technologies, have received a sharp increase in orders. However, due to the backlog of orders and difficulties in boosting production, revenue from these orders will only appear in the company's financial statements in the next 2 to 3 years.
Meanwhile, arms sales from companies in Asia and the Middle East increased significantly in 2022. This demonstrates “the ability to meet a sharp increase in demand in a short period of time”.
Despite the year-on-year decline, the Top 100's total arms sales in 2022 were still 14% higher than in 2015 – the first year SIPRI included Chinese companies in the rankings.
“However, new contracts have been signed, especially for ammunition, which are expected to bring higher revenues in 2023 and beyond,” said Béraud-Sudreau.
Hoai Phuong (according to AP)
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