SIPRI issues list of world’s 100 largest arms-producing companies

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) issued the list of the world’s 100 largest arms-producing companies (excluding Chinese companies), ranked by their arms sales.

The list is based on the comprehensive SIPRI Arms Industry Database, which contains financial and employment data on the world’s major arms-producing companies. Arms sales are defined by SIPRI as sales of military goods and services to military customers, including both domestic and export sales. Military goods and services are those which are designed specifically for military purposes.

Although several Chinese arms-producing enterprises are large enough to rank among the SIPRI Top 100, it has not been possible to include them because of lack of comparable and sufficiently accurate data. In addition, there are companies in other countries, such as Kazakhstan and Ukraine, that could also be large enough to appear in the SIPRI Top 100 list if data were available, but this is less certain, SIPRI said on its website.

U.S.-based Lockheed Martin tops the list with $33.430mln of arms sales in 2009. It’s followed by UK’s BAE Systems with $33.250mln. Boeing comes third with $32.300mln.