Revenue of the top-100 arms-producing and military services companies increased 2.5%, reaching a total of $398.2 billion, Forbes reported.
The claim is according to new arms industry data released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri), who said that 2017 is the third consecutive year of growth for the top 100 arms companies. Out of those 100 companies, 42 are based in the United States and they accounted for $225.5 billion.
Lockheed Martin remained on top of the global arms production league in 2017, with sales of $44.9 billion. Increasing deliveries of the F-35 Lightning II combat aircraft have been a key factor in the company’s strong performance and in September, the Pentagon wrapped up an $11.5 billion contract for 141 more F-35s. Boeing came second with just under $27 billion. According to Sipri, the gap between Lockheed Martin and Boeing widened from $11 billion in 2016 to $18 billion in 2017. Raytheon rounded off the top-three with $23.87 billion.
Elsewhere, Russia overtook the United Kingdom to become the second largest arms producer worldwide after the United States. Russian arms companies have recorded significant growth since 2011, in line with the country’s aims to modernize its military and replace obsolete Cold War-era equipment. In 2017, a Russian company appeared on the top-10 list of the world’s biggest arms companies for the very first time. Almaz-Antey had sales of $8.6 billion last year and it’s best known as a producer of air defense systems.
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