Defense-Technology News: Global Arms Sale

Showing posts with label Global Arms Sale. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 07, 2012

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: 10 Companies Profiting Most From War

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: 10 Companies Profiting Most From War

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By Michael B. Sauter and Charles B. Stockdale, 24/7 Wall St. - The Bottom Line on msnbc.msn.com
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 7, 2012: Global sales of arms and military services by the 100 largest defense contractors increased in 2010 to $411.1 billion, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The increase reflects a decade-long trend of growing military spending. Since 2002, total arms sales among the 100 largest arms manufacturers have increased 60 percent.

The institute recently published its annual report on the leading arms producing companies in the world -- SIPRI Top 100. The report identifies the largest companies in the sector and provides each company’s arms sales as a percentage of its total sales. Based on the report, 24/7 Wall St. identified the 10 companies with the highest revenue from arms sales. These companies alone account for $230 billion -- over half of all arms sales that year.

While many industries continued to suffer in 2010 as a result of the financial crisis, leaders in the arms and military services were largely unaffected. According to SIPRI arms industry expert Susan Jackson, when sales dropped, it was not because of the financial crisis. Instead, Jackson notes that loss in sales was due to “the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq and the subsequent expected decrease in related equipment sales.”

The composition of the 10 largest manufacturers reflects the state of modern warfare. More and more, battles are fought remotely through air surveillance and strikes rather than on-the-ground combat. As a consequence, seven of the 10 largest companies are among the leading aerospace companies. Surveillance and battlefield communications also are increasingly important in modern warfare. All of the companies in the top 10 have significant electronics divisions.

Of the 100 companies on the list, 44 are based in the U.S., including Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin. The American companies account for more than 60 percent of arms sales revenue of the 100 manufacturers. Seven of SIPRI’s top 10 are American, one is British, one is Italian and one is a multinational EU conglomerate. The U.S. federal government has contract deals with all seven American companies. These seven are among the top 10 U.S. federal contractors by amount procured, according to the government’s Federal Procurement Data System.

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24/7 Wall St.’s analysis of the SIPRI 100 includes revenue for arms sales for 2007, 2009 and 2010, as well as percentage of company revenue from arms sales, employees, industry and applicable military division. 24/7 Wall St. also included history of each company and notable weapons systems manufactured.

These are the companies profiting most from war.

1. Lockheed Martin

Arms sales 2010: $35.73 billion
Total sales 2010: $45.80 billion
Arms sales as pct. of total sales: 78 percent
Total profit: $2.93 billion
Total employment: 132,000
Sector: Aircraft, Electronics, Missiles, Space

Lockheed Martin is the largest arms-producing and military services company in the world, with nearly $3 billion more in arms sales than second place BAE Systems. Although military sales make up the majority of its revenue, it is significantly less than many other major arms-producers, including BAE’s 95 percent share. In addition to being the world’s largest arms-seller, Lockheed is also the largest federal contractor in the U.S. by a large margin. In 2010, the company’s government contracts totaled nearly $36 billion. Lockheed produces a number of major products, including the Trident missile and the F-16 and F-22 fighter jets. Despite being the largest military service company on this list, Lockheed is only the fourth-largest company by overall sales among the companies featured on this list. In 2007, the Lockheed was the third-largest arms producer.

2. BAE Systems

Arms sales 2010: $32.88 billion
Total sales 2010: $34.61 billion
Arms sales as pct. of total sales: 95 percent
Total profit: $1.67 billion
Total employment: 98,200
Sector: Aircraft, Artillery, Electronics, Missiles, Military vehicles, Small arms/ammunition, Ships

BAE Systems is an aerospace and defense contractor based in the UK. The company has a major U.S. subsidiary, BAE Systems, Inc., which by itself would be the seventh-largest weapons manufacturer in the world. The British company was formed in 1999 through the merger of Marconi Electronics (which was at the time a subsidiary of GE) and British Aerospace. BAE produces weapons systems in nearly every major military category, including aircraft, defense electronics, vehicles, naval vessels and small arms. Among the company’s notable contributions are the M2/M3 Bradley fighting vehicle, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the Type 45 destroyer and the Astute-class nuclear submarine. In 2010, 95 percent of its revenue came from arms sales, $32.88 billion in all.

3. Boeing

Arms sales 2010: $31.36 billion
Total sales 2010: $64.31 billion
Arms sales as pct. of total sales: 49 percent
Total profit: $3.31 billion
Total employment: 160,500
Sector: Aircraft, Electronics, Missiles, Space

As recently as 2007, Boeing was the largest arms producer in the world. By 2008, it had fallen behind Lockheed Martin and U.K.-based BAE Systems. The aerospace and defense company remains one of the largest in the world, however. Boeing is the second-largest aircraft producer in the world by deliveries, behind only Airbus. It is also the second-largest U.S. government contractor, procuring just under $19.5 billion in contracts in 2010. Major products produced by the company include the KC-767, an aerial refueling tanker, and the F-15 fighter jet. Boeing made less in arms sales in 2010 than it did in 2009, although arms sales made up a larger amount of total sales -- two percentage points, to be exact -- in 2010 compared to 2009. Even in 2010, however, only 49 percent of revenue came from arms sales, which is among the lowest rates among companies on this list.

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4. Northrop Grumman

Arms sales 2010: $28.15 billion
Total sales 2010: $34.76 billion
Arms sales as pct. of total sales: 81 percent
Total profit: $2.05 billion
Total employment: 117,100
Sector: Aircraft, Electronics, Missiles, Ships, Space

Northrop Grumman is the fourth-largest weapons contractor in the U.S. The company, which is based in Falls Church, Va., is one of the leaders in aerospace technology and the leading producer of naval vessels in the world. The company manufactures Nimitz-class carriers that are the current flagships of the U.S. Navy. And over the next few years it is also set to build the new, $9.7 billion Gerald R. Ford-class supercarriers. Northrop Grumman also develops radar systems for aircraft and ground defense, sensor systems for a variety of vehicles and several unmanned aircraft and drones. Weapons systems sales accounted for 81 percent of company revenue in 2010. Arms sales grew by approximately $3.5 billion between 2007 and 2010.

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5. General Dynamics

Arms sales 2010: $23.94 billion
Total sales 2010: $32.47 billion
Arms sales as pct. of total sales: 74 percent
Total profit: $2.62 billion
Total employment: 90,000
Sector: Artillery, Electronics, Military vehicles, Small arms/ammunition, Ships

General Dynamics is an American defense company that deals in aerospace, combat systems, information systems and technology, and marine systems. Although the company has been around since 1952, it has enjoyed a resurgence beginning in the 1990s, thanks largely to a number of mergers. Since 1997 General Dynamics says it has acquired more than 50 companies. Over this same period, its revenue increased from $4 billion to more than $32 billion. It also added more than 60,000 employees to its workforce. Currently, 74 percent of the company’s sales are arms sales. General Dynamics owns Electric Boat and Bath Iron Works, two of the largest naval vessel builders in the world. General Dynamics is notable known for its Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine, the Seawolf-class submarine, the M1 Abrams tank and the Arleigh-Burke-class destroyer.

Click here to read the rest of the companies profiting the most from war.

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By Michael B. Sauter and Charles B. Stockdale, 24/7 Wall St. - The Bottom Line on msnbc.msn.com
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com
©COPYRIGHT (C) DTN NEWS DEFENSE-TECHNOLOGY NEWS

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: India World's Biggest Arms Importer ~ Think Tank

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: India World's Biggest Arms Importer ~ Think Tank

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources AFP

(NSI News Source Info) STOCKHOLM, Sweden
- March 14, 2011:
India has been the world's biggest weapons importer over the last five years, Swedish think-tank SIPRI reported Monday, naming four Asian countries among the top five arms importers.

The report also highlighted how the world's major arms supplying countries had in recent years competed for trade in Libya, and in other Arab countries gripped by the recent wave of pro-democracy uprisings.

"India is the world's largest arms importer," the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said as it released its latest report on trends in the international arms trade.

"India received nine percent of the volume of international arms transfers during 2006-10, with Russian deliveries accounting for 82 percent of Indian arms imports," it said.
Its arms imports jumped 21 percent from the previous five-year-period with 71 percent of its orders being for aircraft.

India's arms purchases were driven by several factors, said Siemon Wezeman of SIPRI'S Arms Transfers Programme.

"The most often cited relate to rivalries with Pakistan and China as well as internal security challenges," he wrote.

China and South Korea held joint second place on the list of global arms imports, each with six percent, followed by Pakistan, on five percent.

Aircraft accounted for 45 percent of Pakistan's arms imports, which had bought warplanes from both China and the United States. Pakistan's arms imports were up 128 percent on the previous five-year period, SIPRI noted.

Greece rounded off the top-five list arms importers, with four percent of global imports.

Since the lifting of a UN arms embargo on Libya in September 2003, Britain, France, Italy and Russia had all competed to win orders from Moamer Kadhafi's regime, said the report.

Kadhafi's forces are currently using tanks, artillery and warplanes to reclaim territory held by the opposition forces.

Egypt had received 60 percent of its major arms imports from the United States between 2006 and 2010, said the SIPRI report.

They included "M-1A1 tanks and M-113 armoured vehicles of the type present during demonstrations in the country in January 2011," it added.

A pro-democracy uprising forced Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak to step down on February 11, after nearly three decades of autocratic rule, after pro-democracy uprising.

But the conflict left at least 384 dead and more than 6,000 injured.

Russia, Montenegro, the Netherlands and China had also supplied weapons to the Mubarak regime, said the SIPRI report.

The United States remained the world's largest military equipment exporter, accounting for 30 percent of global arms exports in 2006-10, 44 percent of which went to to Asia and Oceania, SIPRI said.
The rest of the top five arms suppliers were: Russia, with 23 percent of the total market; Germany (11 percent); France (seven percent); and Britain (four percent).
"There is intense competition between suppliers for big-ticket deals in Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and Latin America," said Dr Paul Holtom, head of the SIPRI Arms Transfers Programme.
He cited the efforts of the Eurofighter consortium to sell their plane across the world against rival warplanes, with competition particuarly fierce for the markets in Brazil and India.
Britain, France, Germany and Italy were also competing for orders for naval equipment from Algeria, noted SIPRI.
The think tank, which specialises in research on conflicts, weapons, arms control and disarmament, was created in 1966 and is 50-percent financed by the Swedish state.

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources AFP

*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News
Contact: dtnnews@ymail.com
©COPYRIGHT (C) DTN NEWS DEFENSE-TECHNOLOGY NEWS

Monday, November 22, 2010

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Chinese Combat Aircraft Exports Hit 2010 Milestones

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Chinese Combat Aircraft Exports Hit 2010 Milestones

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By Robert Hewson ZHUHAI, China - Aviation Week

(NSI News Source Info) ZHUHAI, China - November 22, 2010: This year has seen several notable achievements in China’s progression as a manufacturer and supplier of front-line military aircraft to export customers.

Much positive publicity was earned by the public debut of Pakistan’s JF-17 fighters at the Farnborough Airshow—with JF-17s again featuring here at Airshow China. Elsewhere in the world, 2010 was notable for the first deliveries of Hongdu K-8 trainers to Venezuela and F-7 fighters to Nigeria. Both sales underline how China is moving into new markets with affordable and capable products.

In March, Venezuela took delivery of its first batch of six K-8W trainers from a total of 18 ordered following a 2006 U.S. embargo on the country. Discussing the order, and his plans to acquire additional aircraft, President Hugo Chavez said that 18 K-8s had been purchased for $82 million. Chavez also signalled his intention to double that fleet to (at least) 36 aircraft. When that happens, Venezuela will be one of the largest users of the K-8, which has now been sold to 12 countries outside China. Venezuela’s air force is unique in using the K-8 to train pilots to fly a mix of U.S.- and Russian-built combat aircraft, such as the F-16 and Su-30MK. In Venezuelan service, the K-8W is equipped for weapons training and light attack missions. A significant weapons package, including PL-5 air-to-air missiles, was supplied to Venezuela along with its aircraft.

In April the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) took delivery of the first of 12 Chengdu F-7NI fighters and three FT-7NI trainers it ordered from China in 2005. Most of Nigeria’s previous combat aircraft, largely acquired from the UK (Jaguar) and Russia (MiG-21), are non-operational so the arrival of the new Chinese aircraft signals a return to operational flying for the NAF’s combat arm. Nigeria’s complete package of aircraft and weapons reportedly cost $252 million. Included in the purchase were a number of PL-9C air-to-air missiles, making Nigeria one of the very few acknowledged export users of this missile.