Arms Sales Jump 60 per cent

Arms manufacturers saw their earnings jump by over 60 per cent to $400 billion between 2002 abd 2010, according to the latest report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri).

The top 10 manufacturers from the global arms industry made a consolidated $230 billion or 56 per cent of total arms sales in 2010 further tightening their monopoly on the arms market.

Lockheed Martin heads the list of American manufacturers followed by BAE Systems (£20.6bn), US-based Boeing (£19.6bn) and Northrop Grumman (£17.9bn).

Britain's largest employer BAE in the manufacturing segment reported a drop in sales of 14 per cent in 2011. The sales could further get affected by the Nato pullout of zones in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The 100 influential military equipment and service providers as defined by net sales do not include Chinese firms that are also into manufacturing military items and services.

As many as 11 buisnesses out of the 100 manufacturing establishments appearing in the list belong to Russia, whereas American majors provide for 52.7 per cent of the total number of arms sold around the world.