A defense contractor is a business organization or individual that provides products or services to a military or intelligence department of a government. Products typically include military or civilian aircraft, ships, vehicles, weaponry, and electronic systems, while services can include logistics, technical support and training, communications support, and engineering support in cooperation with the government.

Security contractors do not generally provide direct support of military operations. Under the 1949 Geneva Conventions, military contractors engaged in direct support of military operations may be legitimate targets of military interrogation.

In the United States, defense contracting has taken an increasingly larger role. In 2009, the Department of Defense spent nearly $316 billion on contracts.[1] Contractors have assumed a much larger on-the-ground presence during American conflicts: during the 1991 Gulf War the ratio of uniformed military to contractors was about 50 to 1, while during the first four years of the Iraq War the U.S. hired over 190,000 contractors, surpassing the total American military presence even during the 2007 Iraq surge and 23 times greater than other allied military personnel numbers.[1] In Afghanistan, the presence of almost 100,000 contractors has resulted in a near 1-to-1 ratio with military personnel.[1] The surge in spending on defense services contractors that began in 2001 came to a halt in 2009, leading to the Better Buying Power initiative of 2010.[2][3]

List of companies

This is a list of the world's largest arms manufacturers and other military service companies, along with their countries of origin. The information is based on a list published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute for 2021.[4] The numbers are in billions of US dollars.

Rank Country Company name Revenue from
Defense (US$ billions)		 Total Revenue
(US$ billions)		 % of Total Revenue
from Defense
1  United States Lockheed Martin 60.3 67.0 90%
2  United States RTX Corporation 41.9 64.4 65%
3  United States Boeing 33.4 62.3 54%
4  United States Northrop Grumman 29.9 35.7 84%
5  United States General Dynamics 26.4 38.5 69%
6  United Kingdom BAE Systems 26.0 26.9 97%
7  China Norinco 21.8 81.6 26%
8  China Aviation Industry Corporation of China 20.1 80.4 25%
9  China China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation 19.1 43.4 44%
10  China China Electronics Technology Group Corporation 15.0 55.4 27%
11  China China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation 14.5 46.0 31%
12  Italy Leonardo S.p.A. 13.9 16.7 83%
13  United States L3Harris 13.4 17.8 75%
14  China China State Shipbuilding Corporation 11.1 53.2 21%
15  EU Airbus 10.9 61.7 18%
16  France Thales Group 9.8 19.1 51%
17  United States Huntington Ingalls Industries 8.6 9.5 90%
18  United States Leidos 8.0 13.7 58%
19  France Dassault Aviation 6.3 8.6 73%
20  China China South Industries Group 6.0 44.4 13%
21  United States Peraton 5.8 7.0 83%
22  United States Booz Allen Hamilton 5.6 8.4 67%
23  United States Honeywell 5.1 34.4 15%
24  France Safran 5.1 18.0 28%
25  United States Amentum 5.0 6.4 78%
26  United Kingdom Rolls-Royce Holdings 5.0 15.1 33%
27  EU MBDA 5.0 5.0 99%
28  Israel Elbit Systems 4.8 5.3 90%
29  France Naval Group 4.7 4.8 99%
30  Russia United Aircraft Corporation 4.5 6.4 70%
31  Germany Rheinmetall 4.5 6.7 66%
32  United States CACI 4.3 6.2 70%
33  United States General Electric 4.1 74.2 6%
34  Sweden Saab AB 4.1 4.6 90%
35  Japan Mitsubishi Heavy Industries 4.1 35.2 12%
36  Russia United Shipbuilding Corporation 4.0 5.1 79%
37  Russia Tactical Missiles Corporation 4.0 4.1 98%
38  Israel Israel Aerospace Industries 3.9 4.5 86%
39  United States Science Applications International Corporation 3.6 7.4 48%
40  United States KBR 3.5 7.3 48%
41  United States Textron 3.4 12.4 27%
42  India Hindustan Aeronautics 3.3 3.5 95%
43  United Kingdom Babcock International Group 3.1 5.6 55%
44  EU KMW+Nexter Defense Systems 3.0 3.2 95%
45  Israel Rafael Advanced Defense Systems 3.0 3.2 95%
46  Italy Fincantieri 3.0 8.2 36%
47  France French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) 2.9 6.6 45%
48  Russia United Engine Corporation 2.9 4.2 69%
49  United States General Atomics 2.8 2.8 100%
50  South Korea Hanwha Aerospace 2.6 5.6 46%

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Singer, Peter W. "The Regulation of New Warfare", The Brookings Institution, February 2010.
  2. ↑ Fryer-Biggs, Zachary. head "Price Wars Prompt Firms To Abandon Service Sector." Defense News, 9 September 2012.
  3. ↑ "Better Buying Power (Public Site)."
  4. ↑ "The SIPRI Top 100 Arms-producing and Military Services Companies, 2021" (PDF). sipri.org. December 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
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