SIPRI YEARBOOK 1997

8. Arms production*
Elisabeth Sköns and Julian Cooper

The decline in the volume of arms production during most of the 1990s is currently levelling out in spite of the still substantial excess capacity in the main arms-producing countries. Instead, dominant developments in the global arms industry now include profound structural changes, commercialization and increased export efforts. The pace of consolidation in the US arms industry was extremely rapid in 1996 and early 1997. In Russia, a determined defence industrial policy is resulting in new corporate structures and a strong concentration in fewer and larger companies. In Europe, the restructuring process continues at a slower rate.

Appendix 8A by Elisabeth Sköns, Renaud Bellais and the SIPRI Arms Industry Network contains data on the 100 largest companies in the OECD and developing countries in 1995.