The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has announced the top 100 defense industry companies that had the highest arms and military service sales in 2022.
According to this, the sales of the largest 100 companies in the defense sector decreased by 3.5% to $597 billion in 2022 compared to the previous year. Thus, sales showed a decline after seven years of recorded growth.
While the report highlights that the Russia-Ukraine war that started in February 2022 and global geopolitical tensions caused a strong increase in demand for weapons and military equipment last year, it is stated that "However, despite receiving new orders, many U.S. and European arms companies could not significantly increase production capacity due to labor shortages, rising costs, and the worsening of supply chain issues due to the war in Ukraine."
In addition, the report points out that countries placing new orders towards the end of the year and the time gap between orders and production have led to the increase in demand not reflecting in the revenues of these companies last year.
The report indicates that last year's decline is mainly attributed to the decline in weapons revenues of major companies in the United States, and due to challenges in increasing existing backlogged orders and production capacity, the income from these orders is likely to be reflected in the company accounts in probably 2-3 years.
The report mentions a significant increase in the arms revenues of companies in Asia and the Middle East in 2022, emphasizing that this is due to the ability of companies in these regions to "respond to increased demand more quickly."
The report states, "Revenues of arms companies in Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East have increased significantly. The increase in pending orders and new contracts suggests that the revenues of global arms companies could increase significantly in the next few years."
Lucie Beraud-Sudreau, the Director of SIPRI's Military Expenditure and Arms Production Program, commented, "Many arms companies faced obstacles in adapting to production for high-intensity conflicts. However, new contracts, especially for ammunition, have been signed, and this can be expected to translate into higher income in 2023 and beyond."
Last year, 4 Turkish companies entered SIPRI's list of the top 100 defense industry companies with the highest arms and military service sales.
In the list, ASELSAN ranked 60th, Baykar 76th, Turkish Aerospace Industries 82nd, and Roketsan 100th.
The total revenues of Turkish companies increased by 22% to reach $5.5 billion last year, compared to 2021.
The report highlights Baykar, known for its unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) production, and emphasizes that the Turkish company ranked 76th on the list with a 94% increase in revenues.
Founded in 1966, SIPRI prepares research, reports, and analyses in areas such as conflict, armaments, arms control, and disarmament.
