Who is the biggest weapons producer in the world?
The U.S.-based defence industry publisher, Defense News, produces an annual listing of the top-100 defence companies in the world.
It’s a clear-eyed view of an industry that fuels the world’s biggest national arsenals with fighter jets, tanks, missiles, and bombs.
As one might imagine, the top of the list is dominated by the biggest American names in the weapons business: Lockheed Martin ($65B, 96% from defence), Raytheon ($65B, 65% from defence), and Boeing ($58B, 56% from defence).
- See Top 100 for 2021
Canada’s top defence company is flight-simulator and pilot training firm, CAE ($2B, 41% from defence), ranking at position 81.
Most large defence firms in Canada are foreign-owned. For example, London, Ontario-based General Dynamics Land Systems is counted with it’s U.S.-parent, General Dynamics, which is ranked the 5th largest defence company in the world by Defense News.
Defense News’ 2021 report is titled, “Riding the wave: Defense revenues rise despite a dark 2020,” and finds that global military-related revenue topped a half-trillion dollars for these mega-corporations. Revenue climbed 5% in 2020, despite a global health and economic crisis caused by the pandemic.
“[COVID-19] doesn’t seem to have affected the productivity of the defense industry from a revenue standpoint, but also we didn’t hear of a lot of [program] slippages. We have to recognize there were some, but from what was expected, the numbers are really good because they’re increasing,” said one U.S. analyst.
- Read the story on Defense News, and view the interactive listing of global defence corporations.
