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BAE Systems 3rd in top arms producers table

BAE Systems have slipped to third place in a table of the world’s arms and military services sellers.

According to the latest Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) report on the top 100 arms-producing firms, the British company’s arms sales fell from $32bn in 2010, to $29.1bn in 2011.

US giant Lockheed Martin claimed the top spot with sales of $36,270m in 2011, while Boeing were second in the table with $31,830.

Other British firms on the list included Middlesex defence software specialists Ultra Electronics ranked at 90; and Dorset-based engineering outfit Meggitt at 74th place.

Overall, arms sales decreased 5% in constant dollar terms, as sanctions on arms transfers to Libya were said to have played a part.

There was a growth of arms producing companies into the cyber security market and a number of companies had established foreign subsidiaries in order to access new revenue streams in Latin America, the Middle East and Asia.

SIPRI’s arms industry expert, Dr Susan Jackson commented: “Arms producing and military services companies have been taking steps to insulate themselves against austerity measures.

“Companies are implementing strategies that accommodate the changes in threat perception since September 2001 while trying to maintain their bottom lines. We see this in the types of acquisitions being made and in the sectors companies are targeting.”

Chinese companies did not appear in the table due to a lack of comparable data. The SIPRI also said there are companies in countries such as Kazakhstan and Ukraine that could also be large enough to appear in the table had data been available.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .