New Delhi :
The combined sales of three public sector Indian defence companies that figure among the world’s 100 top arms suppliers dropped by 6.9per cent to stand at USD 5.9 billion in 2018 despite a rise in the global weapons sales, according to a new report published by a leading Swedish think tank. Sales of arms and military services by the sector's largest 100 companies(excluding those in China) totalled USD 420 billion in 2018, marking an increase of 4.6 per cent compared with the previous year, the Stock holm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said on Monday.
The new data from SIPRI’s Arms Industry Database shows thatsales of arms and military services by companies listed in the top 100 haveincreased by 47 per cent since 2002. The database excludes Chinese companiesdue to the lack of data to make a reliable estimate. Eighty of the 100 top armsproducers in 2018 were based in the USA, Europe and Russia. Of the remaining20, 6 were based in Japan, 3 in Israel, India and South Korea, respectively, 2in Turkey and 1 each in Australia, Canada and Singapore, the report said.
The combined arms sales of the three Indian arms companieslisted in the top 100 were USD 5.9 billion in 2018— a decrease of 6.9 per centon 2017. The decline is mainly a result of Indian Ordnance Factory’ssignificant 27 per cent drop in arms sales, the report said. The three Indiancompanies on SIPRI's list of top 100 global arms firms are HindustanAeronautics Limited (HAL) ranked 38, the Indian Ordnance Factories ranked 56and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) ranked 62. They accounted for 1.4 per centof the arms sales of the top 100 companies." All three are state-owned andare almost entirely dependent on domestic demand. Arms sales by HindustanAeronautics and Bharat Electronics increased in 2018—by 3.5 and 5.9 per cent,respectively. However, these increases were offset by a 27 per cent fall in thearms sales of Indian Ordnance Factories...The decreasewas because of areduction in orders from the Indian Army," the report said.
The combined arms sales of the six Japanese companiesremained relatively stable in 2018. At USD 9.9 billion, they accounted for 2.4per cent of the top 100 total, it said.
The three Israeli companies’ arms sales of USD 8.7 billionaccounted for 2.1 per cent of the top 100 total. Elbit Systems, IsraelAerospace Industries and Rafael all increased their arms sales in 2018, thereport said
The three companies based in South Korea had combined armssales of USD 5.2 billion in 2018, equivalent to 1.2 per cent of the top 100total.
Their collective arms sales in 2018 were 9.9 per cent higherthan in 2017. Bucking the trend, however, was LIG Nex1, whose sales fell by 17per cent in 2018. The shipbuilder DSME, which was ranked in 2017, dropped outof the top 100 in 2018.
Arms sales by Turkish companies listed in the top 100increased by 22 per cent in 2018, to USD 2.8 billion. Turkey aims to developand modernise its arms industry and Turkish companies continued to benefit fromthese efforts in 2018. According to the report, for the first time since 2002,the top five spots in the ranking are held exclusively by arms companies basedin the United States: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon andGeneral Dynamics. These five companies alone accounted for USD 148 billion and35 per cent of total top 100 arms sales in 2018.
The combined arms sales of the 10 Russian companies in the2018 ranking were USD 36.2 billion—a marginal decrease of 0.4 per cent on 2017.Their share of total top 100 arms sales fell from 9.7 per cent in 2017 to 8.6per cent in 2018. This can be explained by the higher top 100 total in 2018 dueto the substantial growth in the combined arms sales of US and Europeancompanies, the report said.
The combined arms sales of the 27 European companies in thetop 100 increased marginally in 2018, to USD 102 billion. Arms sales bycompanies based in the UK fell by 4.8 per cent, to USD 35.1 billion, butremained the highest in Europe, it said.