The combined revenue from the world's largest weapons manufacturers and defence-related companies climbed by close to 6 percent last year, reaching the highest level ever recorded, according to one of the major defence monitoring institutes.

Revenues from the top 100 companies totaled $679 billion in 2024, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in a new report released on Monday. This is a surge of 5.9 percent from 2023 in real terms, the research organization said.

Many countries, including NATO members, have rushed to up defence spending in the past few years against the backdrop of Russia's invasion of Ukraine from early 2022 and the start of Israel's war in Gaza in fall 2023.

Moscow dedicated more than 7 percent of its GDP to the military in 2024, according to a separate SIPRI report from earlier this year. China, deep into its efforts to modernize its vast armed forces, is a major military spender, while countries aligned with NATO — like South Korea and Japan — have committed to spending more on defence as they eye North Korea's burgeoning military programs with alarm.

Total arms revenues for global companies shot up by 26 percent from 2015 to 2024, the SIPRI experts said.

The Sweden-based institute said the rise could be chalked up to increased sales income for companies based in Europe and the U.S. The majority of European countries are NATO states.

Concrete pledges to dramatically surge defence spending came in mid-2025, when NATO members committed to dedicating 3.5 percent of their GDP on "core" defence capabilities, like military equipment. Another 1.5 percent will be funnelled into related spending, like strengthening infrastructure that would be critical in a war effort.

Intelligence agencies in NATO nations have warned Russia could be looking to launch an armed attack on a NATO member in anywhere between a few months' time and several years. European countries have for decades leaned on the U.S. to provide many expensive capabilities, but the Trump administration has clearly signalled it will shift its attention away from Europe to the Indo-Pacific and that Europe needed to rearm itself.

European and U.S. companies are contending with ballooning demand for military equipment and with backfilling stocks of artillery systems, air defences and ammunition donated to Ukraine.

Many manufacturers have started to expand their facilities to pump out more equipment faster. At least 65 percent of European arms companies in the SIPRI's top 100 built out their production in 2024, the institute said.

The 39 companies headquartered in the U.S. increased arms revenues by 3.8 percent, totalling $338 billion, according to the SIPRI researchers. This accounted for close to half of all global revenues among the top 100 companies.

Four of the world's top arms producers are U.S.-based companies. Lockheed Martin, RTX, Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics increased their revenues in 2024.

Lockheed Martin, the world's largest arms producer, is the prime contractor for the F-35 fifth generation stealth aircraft. It's the only real option for Western militaries outside the U.S. to buy a fifth-generation fighter jet. Lockheed Martin's 3.2 percent revenue increase in 2024 is partly down to the 110 F-35s that were delivered in 2024 but delayed from the previous year, SIPRI said.

"While delays and cost overruns have long been characteristics of military modernization efforts globally, they have been especially pronounced in the USA," the researchers added.

The 26 European countries featured in the top 100 saw revenues rise by 13 percent. U.K-based defence giant BAE Systems was the world's fourth-largest arms producer last year.

Italian manufacturer Leonardo is the second-largest European arms company in the SIPRI top 100, seeing a 10 percent increase in revenue in 2024. Leonardo and BAE Systems, along with Japan's Mitsubishi, are developing a sixth-generation aircraft.

Two companies — the Czech Republic's Czechoslovak Group and Elon Musk's SpaceX — more than doubled their revenues, the researchers said.

The Czech government launched a push to find and donate artillery ammunition to Ukraine in early 2024. Just over half of the Czechoslovak Group's revenues last year could be tied to Ukraine, SIPRI said.

Asia and Oceania were the exception to rising arms revenues. The total revenue for the 23 companies based in Oceania and Asia dipped by 1.2 percent, down to a drop in Chinese arms companies' sales amid corruption allegations, the researchers said.

Available data from two Russian companies showed their revenues had climbed by 23 percent, hitting roughly $31.2 billion, according to the report.

Nine Middle East-based companies were in the top 100, and the researchers said reliable data was available for eight of the companies. Their revenue grew by 14 percent between 2023 and 2024.

The three Israeli companies in the top 100 increased their revenue by 16 percent last year, both because of Israel's war in Gaza and international appetite for Israeli equipment, SIPRI said.

European arms companies are investing in new production capacity to meet the rising demand," said SIPRI researcher, Jade Guiberteau Ricard. "But sourcing materials could pose a growing challenge. In particular, dependence on critical minerals is likely to complicate European rearmament plans."

Diego Lopes da Silva, a senior researcher with SIPRI, said: "Besides sanctions, Russian arms companies are facing a shortage of skilled labour. This could slow production and limit innovation." (Newsweek)

• Artillery shells with a calibre of 155 millimetres are in the Rheinmetall factory on 27 August 2025. | Wolf von Dewitz/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images