Swedish think-tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has released the report titled “World’s Top 100 Arms Producing Companies 2022”. SIPRI Top 100 listing includes the 100 companies with the largest arms revenue during the year covered. It lists the companies which make arms, weapons, military planes and equipment.
i.For the 1st time, three Indian Public Sector Units (PSUs) : Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) are listed in the Top 100 arms producing companies.
ii.Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL), an Indian PSU specialized in Shipbuilding marks its debut in the list by securing 89th position. It generated revenue of USD 1 billion for year 2022.
iii.HAL has moved to 41st position in 2022 ranking compared to 42nd in 2021 with revenue generation of USD 3.4 billion for 2022. BEL secured 63rd position, its position went a step down compared to 2021 (62nd) and the revenue generated is USD 1.9 billion.
iv.Total share of 3 Indian PSUs accounted just 1% of the global arms sales of USD 597 billion in 2022. Aggregate arms revenue of these 3 PSUs went up by 7.4% to USD 6.4 billion.
Note: Recently, Ministry of Defense has approved orders worth Rs 1.8 lakh crore (around USD 22 billion) for HAL.
Indian Companies listed in Top 100 are:
| Rank | Company | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 41st | Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) | India |
| 63rd | Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) | India |
| 89th | Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) | India |
Top Three Global Companies (2022) in the List are:
| Rank | Company | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Lockheed Martin Corporation | United States |
| 2nd | Raytheon Technologies | United States |
| 3rd | Northrop Grumman Corporation | United States |
Key Findings of the Report:
i.As per the SIPRI report 2022, the overall sales of arms and military services by the 100 largest arms companies in the world amounts to USD 579 billion. Despite the increasing demand of weapons, it saw a decrease of 3.5% in real terms compared with 2021 due to less production of arms shortage of supply chains.
ii.The United States (U.S.) continues to dominate the Top 100 list with 42 companies. Despite having most number of U.S. companies in the list, revenue of these companies fell by 7.9% to USD 302 billion in 2022.
- The Top 5 arms companies in 2022 were based in U.S. and their arms revenue made up to 32% of total Top 100 arms revenue.
iii.After U.S., China has the most number of companies listed in the report. There were 8 companies based in China, listed in the top 100 and total revenue generated by them is USD 108 billion in 2022 which accounted for 18% share of the top 100 arms revenue.
iv.This year only two Russian companies were listed in the top 100 arms revenue for 2022 and their combined arms revenue was USD 20.8 billion (which was 12% lower than in 2021).
Other countries in the List are:
- Middle East region registered highest percentage of year-on- year basis growth in the Top 100 Arms revenue. The combined arms revenue of 7 companies based in Middle East region increased by 11% which accounted to USD 17.9 billion.
- NCSIST – Taiwanese based company registered largest growth in arms revenue among companies in Asia and Oceania. Its revenue increased by 36% to USD 2.6 billion in 2022.
- Baykar (ranked 76th) and Roketsan (ranked 100th) of Türkiye entered the Top 100 for the first time.
About Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI):
Chair: Stefan Löfven (Sweden)
Establishment – 1966
Headquarters – Stockholm, Sweden
