ASELSAN, Baykar, Turkish Aerospace, and Roketsan secure spots in SIPRI's 2022 defense sales ranking
ASELSAN ranks 60th, Baykar 76th, Turkish Aerospace Industries 82nd, and Roketsan 100th in Stockholm International Peace Research Institute's list of top 100 defense industry companies
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) announced the top 100 defense industry companies with the highest sales of arms and military services in 2022.
Accordingly, the sales of arms and military services of the 100 largest companies in the defense sector in 2022 decreased by 3.5 percent compared to the previous year to $ 597 billion. Thus, sales declined after the increase recorded for 7 years.
The report pointed out that the Russia-Ukraine war that started in February 2022 and geopolitical tensions around the world led to a strong increase in demand for weapons and military equipment last year, "However, despite receiving new orders, many United States and European arms companies could not significantly increase their production capacity due to labor shortages, rising costs, and the war in Ukraine worsening supply chain constraints."
In addition to these, the report pointed out that the increase in demand due to the new orders placed by the countries towards the end of the year and the time difference between orders and production caused the increase in demand not to be reflected in the revenues of these companies last year. It was stated in the report that the said decrease last year was mainly due to the decline in the arms revenues of large companies in the U.S. and that due to the existing backlog of orders and difficulties in increasing production capacity, the income from these orders will probably be reflected in the company accounts within 2-3 years.
The report, which stated that the arms revenues of companies in Asia and the Middle East increased significantly in 2022, emphasized that this was due to the "ability of companies in the regions to respond to increasing demand in a shorter time".
"Revenues of arms companies in Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East have increased significantly. The increase in pending orders and new contracts indicates that the revenues of global arms companies could increase significantly in the next few years,” it emphasized.
Lucie Beraud-Sudreau, Director of SIPRI's Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme, said: "Many arms companies have faced obstacles in adapting to production for high-intensity conflicts. However, new contracts have been signed, especially for munitions, and this can be expected to translate into higher revenues in 2023 and beyond."
US COMPANIES AT TOP OF LIST
It was noteworthy that all 5 companies at the top of the list since 2018 have been US-based. These companies were listed as Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Technologies, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, and General Dynamics.
It was remarkable that the total sales of the 8 Chinese arms companies on the list increased by 2.7 percent compared to the previous year to 108 billion dollars. 3 of the Chinese manufacturers (NORINCO, AVIC, CASC) were in the top 10 on the list.
Among the top 100 companies, there are 26 companies headquartered in Europe, while their total arms sales increased by 0.9 percent to 121 billion dollars.
In Germany, which started to buy new weapons for its army after the Russia-Ukraine war, arms sales of Rheinmetall, ThyssenKrupp, Hensoldt, and Diehl increased by 1.1 percent last year compared to the previous year and reached $ 9.1 billion.
Due to a lack of data, only two Russian companies were included in the list of the 100 largest in 2022. Their total arms revenues fell by 12 percent to $ 20,8 billion.
TURKISH COMPANIES INCREASED SALES
Four Turkish companies were included in SIPRI's list of the top 100 defense industry companies that sold the most arms and military services last year.
ASELSAN ranked 60th, Baykar 76th, Turkish Aerospace Industry 82nd, and Roketsan 100th in the list.
Total revenues of Turkish companies increased by 22 percent last year compared to 2021, reaching $5.5 billion.
The report drew attention to Baykar, known for its production of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and emphasized that the Turkish company ranked 76th in the list with an increase of 94 percent in revenues.
Since its establishment in 1966, SIPRI has been preparing research, reports, and analyses in areas such as conflict, armaments, arms control, and disarmament.
Source: Anadolu Agency
