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Mapping the International Presence of the World’s Largest Arms Companies
December 2020
Stockholm
SIPRI
Arms companies have a presence that reaches far beyond the countries in which they are headquartered. This is the result of the internationalization of the arms industry. This paper uses a new data set to examine the results of this internationalization in terms of the international presence of major arms companies. It presents a mapping comprising 400 foreign entities linked to the world’s largest arms companies.
The mapping shows that the international presence of major arms companies continues to be influenced by geopolitical divisions and ties, and generally mirrors the geographical locations of the world’s biggest arms import markets. It also reveals that the international presence of major Chinese arms companies and the one Russian company included in the study remains limited.
Appendix A lists the 25 largest arms-producing and military services companies in the world, ranked by their arms sales in 2019.
Table of contents
I. Introduction
II. Mapping the foreign entities of the world’s largest arms companies
III. Understanding the international presence of the world’s largest arms companies
IV. Conclusions
Appendix A. The 25 largest arms-producing and military services companies in the world, 2019
ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)/EDITORS
Dr Lucie Béraud-Sudreau was Director of the Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme.
Alexandra Marksteiner was a Researcher in the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme.
Dr Diego Lopes da Silva is a Senior Researcher in the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme.
Dr Nan Tian is a Senior Researcher and Programme Director of the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme.
Alexandra Kuimova Alexandra Kuimova is a Researcher with UNIDIR’s Conventional Arms and Ammunition Programme. She was previously a Researcher with the SIPRI Arms Transfers Programme.
Pieter D. Wezeman is a Senior Researcher in the SIPRI Arms Transfers Programme.
Siemon T. Wezeman is a Senior Researcher in the SIPRI Arms Transfers Programme.