Top Companies by Arms Revenue

This bar chart race shows top companies by accumulated arms revenue from 2002 to 2022. The total amount is accumulation of the top 100 companies arms revenue. The amounts are expressed in constant US dollars (2022).

Data are based on open sources. Due to the nature of the industry, secrecy/lack of transparency, there are limitations. But the data gives a good idea about the size of the industry.

Depiction of EU flag means the company is Trans-European.

Notes about companies depicted:

ITT, L3 and Harris:

In 2006, ITT Industries rebranded itself as ITT Corporation (or ITT Inc.). This change was mainly a branding decision to reflect the company's broadening scope beyond its industrial roots.
In 2011, ITT Corporation split into three separate companies. ITT Exelis handled defense and aerospace-related businesses.
In 2013, the company decided to drop "ITT" from its name, rebranding itself simply as Exelis.
Exelis was acquired by Harris Corporation in 2015, another major defense contractor.
On December 31, 2016, L-3 Communications rebranded itself to L3 Technologies.
Harris later merged with L3 Technologies to become L3Harris Technologies in 2019. From 2019 to 2022, the accumulated arms reveneue under this merged company was almost 60 billion dollars (2022 constant US dollars).

EADS and Airbus:

EADS was formed in 2000 through a merger of Aerospatiale-Matra (France), DASA (Germany), and CASA (Spain). It became one of the largest aerospace and defense companies in the world.
In 2014, EADS was rebranded as Airbus Group. During this time, the Airbus Group was divided into three primary divisions: Airbus (commercial aircraft), Airbus Helicopters (formerly Eurocopter), Airbus Defence and Space (which combined Cassidian, Astrium, and other defense activities).
In 2017, the company decided to further streamline its identity by dropping "Group" from its name and simply becoming Airbus in 2018.

DCN, DCNS and Naval Group:

DCN was a part of the French Ministry of Defense, responsible for naval shipbuilding and related military activities, particularly for the French Navy. It was a state-owned entity, and for most of its existence, it operated under the name DCN (Direction des Constructions Navales).
In the early 2000s, there was a major shift in the structure and legal status of DCN. In 2003, DCN was restructured and turned into a state-owned limited company (Société Anonyme), as part of efforts to make the organization more competitive and capable of working with other defense contractors and international partners.
In 2007, DCN merged with Thales Naval France, and the combined entity was renamed DCNS (Direction des Constructions Navales et Systèmes).
In 2017, DCNS rebranded itself as Naval Group, which is its current name.

Halliburton and KBR:

In 2006, Halliburton made the decision to separate from KBR. KBR was spun off as a separate publicly traded company in 2007. This marked Halliburton’s exit from the defense and military logistics sector, as KBR took over the defense-related contracts and operations. By 2013, KBR began to shift its business strategy. Following years of involvement in defense-related contracts, KBR started moving away from military and government services as a primary business.

Finmeccanica and Leonardo:

Finmeccanica was an Italian aerospace, defense, and security company established in 1948. Over the decades, it became one of the major players in Europe's defense and aerospace industries.
In 2016, it rebranded to Leonardo S.p.A., consolidating its divisions into a unified company.

CSC:

In 2015, CSC (Computer Sciences Corp.) split into two parts: CSC and CSRA Inc.
In 2017, CSC merged with HPE’s Enterprise Services division to form DXC Technology.

UDI:

United Defense Industries (UDI) was acquired by BAE Systems in 2005

United Technologies:

United Technologies merged with Raytheon in 2020.

Limitations:

Rostec (Russian):

Data is only available since 2015.

China:

Data from Chinese companies are only available from 2015.

Data source: SIPRI Arms Industry Database

Music: Ansia Orchestra - Thunderbird https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6b0X1HZ7BmA

Data visualization created with flourish.studio https://flourish.studio