Thursday, February 24, 2011
Business was absolutely booming for the American arms industry during the Great Recession; in 2009 alone, U.S. defense companies sold nearly $247 billion in weapons worldwide. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute has determined that 45 of the top 100 arms dealers in the world were U.S.-based, including seven of the top 10. American companies were responsible for 61.5% of the sales of the top 100.
The leading American sellers of military hardware were Lockheed Martin ($33.4 billion), Boeing ($32.3 billion), Northrop Grumman ($27 billion), General Dynamics ($25.6 billion), Raytheon ($23 billion), L-3 Communications ($13 billion) and United Technologies ($11.1 billion).
Worldwide, arms sales by companies totaled $401 billion in 2009, an increase of 8% over 2008.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
21 Feb 2011: Top Global Arms Industry Increases Arms Sales Despite Ongoing Recession, Says SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute)
The SIPRI Top 100 Arms-producing Companies, 2009 (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute)
Boom in U.S. Arms Sales…A Risky Way to Create Jobs (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)
U.S. Leads Boom in Arms Sales (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)
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