Selling Weapons to the World is Good Business – Global Arms Market Hit $411 billion in 2010

27.02.2012

The world’s 100 largest arms dealers, excluding China, sold weapons and military services worth $411.1 billion (310 billion euros) in 2010, a rise of 1 percent from 2009, a report published on Monday said.

American firms dominated the Top 100 list as usual, with sales by 44 US-based companies accounting for over 60 percent of the market, or $246.6 billion.
Seven of them placed in the top 10, with Lockheed Martin in first place with sales of $35.7 billion.
The non-US firms were Britain’s BAE Systems in second place, European group EADS in seventh, and Italy’s Finmeccanica in eighth position.
The number of European groups on the Top 100 list declined from 33 in 2009 to 30 in 2010, accounting for a total of 29 percent of sales worth $119 billion.
The military services market, which includes systems support, training, logistics and maintenance, also continued to grow, with 20 companies on the list.