Lockheed's F-35, North Korea threat push world arms sales higher

(Dec 11): Arms sales by the world’s top 100 defense contractors rose last year for the first time since 2010, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Total sales of arms and military services rose 1.9% year on year to US$374.8 billion ($506 billion), the Stockholm-based research institute said in a statement. That’s a 38% increase since 2002, when Sipri began reporting corporate arms sales.

Sales by Lockheed Martin Corp., the world’s biggest arms producer, climbed 10.7%, driven largely by deliveries of its F-35 fighter jet. Arms sales by US companies rose 4% to US$217.2 billion, or 57.9% of the global total.

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