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Many of the world's armed conflicts occur in countries that lack the capability to manufacture advanced weaponry. The vast majority of these are in Africa and the Middle East. Conflicts in Nigeria and Ethiopia, as well as massive conflicts involving government change, are examples.
There are also countries that believe they need to be protected from such a battle, and several of them spend hundreds of millions of dollars on weapons each year. Saudi Arabia and Turkey are excellent examples. Several European countries, as well as Russia, provide some of these weapons, but the United States by far supplies the most.
Arms sales increased even as the COVID-19 outbreak devastated the world economy. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute ('SIPRI'), the top 100 military contractors in the world sold $531 billion in weaponry and military services in 2020, up 1.3% from 2019.
Often companies, not the government, design and construct these weapons in several of these weapon-producing countries. Several of these businesses have grown to be among the world's largest, and several are publicly traded and have stock that trades on major stock exchanges.
A recent analysis examined SIPRI data from the year 2020 to see which corporation made the most money through war. SIPRI's research into arms and military services sales in 2020 was used to rank companies.
SIPRI provided data on arms and military services sales. Financial reports and business news releases provided revenue figures for the most recent fiscal year.
Lockheed Martin Corporation has remained at the top of the list of firms that profit the most from conflict, a position it has held since 2009. The following are the specifics. Total sales for the most recent fiscal year: $65.4 billion. Sales of arms and military services: $58.2 billion. Arms sales as percent of overall sales: 89%. From 2019 to 2020, Lockheed Martin's arms sales climbed 7.7%.
The company did experience a high-profile disaster in 2021 when the Air Force confirmed that the stealth fighter jets Lockheed Martin had spent over two decades developing did not fulfill criteria. The U.S. military had intended to replace its outdated F-16s, but Lockheed's attempts to develop new planes were continually delayed, and when they were ultimately built, they failed to reach the military's capability rating criterion.
