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Producers of Small Arms, Light Weapons, and Their Ammunition
Producers of Small Arms, Light Weapons, and Their Ammunition
Producers of Small Arms, Light Weapons, and Their Ammunition
T
housands of companies from some 100 PLC of the United Kingdom (37.5 per cent),
countries produce small arms, light Airbus Group—itself a conglomerate of vari-
weapons, and their ammunition. While ous European interests—(37.5 per cent), and
comprehensively identifying producers and Finmeccanica SpA of Italy (25 per cent).
estimating the global production of small arms The companies given in Table 3 may be
& MARKETS
and light weapons is a challenging exercise due state owned or privately held, or a combina-
WEAPONS
to the opacity of the market, this Research Note tion of the two. They usually produce a mix
draws on existing data from the industry and of small arms (such as handguns, shotguns,
authorized trade to provide insights into the assault rifles, and light and medium2 machine
main producers and categories of weapons guns), light weapons (such as heavy machine
produced worldwide. guns, portable grenade launchers and rifle gre-
The Research Note identifies 30 states that nades, man-portable anti-tank weapons and
comprise some of the world’s major producers of ammunition, and man-portable air defence
small arms, light weapons, and their associated systems (MANPADS)), ammunition, and pyro-
ammunition. It focuses on the 20 countries technics. Many of these companies also produce,
Research Notes
reported to be the top exporters1 (see Table 2), sell, and export firearms for civilian markets
as well as India, Iran, North Korea, and Pakistan (personal defence, hunting, and sporting).
(which produce sizeable quantities of arms largely More than 60 countries currently produce
for domestic customers). It also focuses on complete light weapons systems or components.
Finland, which the Small Arms Survey believes More than half of them are known to produce
routinely exports USD 50–99 million worth of MANPADS or anti-tank guided weapons
small arms per year, but cannot be documented (ATGWs) (see Table 1), or components for these
as having exported more than USD 100 million (Berman and Leff, 2008).
worth of weapons in a calendar year. The report The granting of licences and production
primarily covers arms intended for military rights and the spread of technology have
use. Only about a dozen countries produce enabled many countries to produce small
advanced guided light weapons, and these arms and light weapons without undertaking
are also outlined in the Research Note. expensive or time-consuming research and
development programmes. The Survey esti-
mates that 530,000–580,000 military rifles,
The weapon-producing companies assault rifles, and carbines are produced
annually either under licence or as unlicensed
Table 2 lists some of the companies producing
copies (Sulashvili, 2007).
small arms, light weapons, or their associated
ammunition from the top 20 arms-exporting
countries (listed in Table 3), as well as Finland, Table 1 Countries producing MANPADS and/or ATGWs
India, Iran, North Korea, and Pakistan. Many (1947–2007)
of the larger companies producing such weap-
ons and their associated ammunition own Argentina Germany Portugal
and operate enterprises in several countries. Australia Greece Romania
Austria Hungary Russia
One example, Rheinmetall AG, headquartered
Belarus India Serbia
in Germany, owns subsidiary companies
Belgium Indonesia Singapore
manufacturing small arms, light weapons, or
Bosnia and Iran Slovak Republic
their associated ammunition or components in Herzegovina Iraq Slovenia
Canada, Germany, South Africa, Switzerland, Brazil Israel South Africa
the United States, and elsewhere. Bulgaria Italy South Korea
Furthermore, for some large companies, Canada Japan Spain
such as Raytheon in the United States, the Chile Kazakhstan Sweden
production of small arms, light weapons, or China Macedonia Switzerland
their associated ammunition constitutes only Croatia Netherlands Taiwan
a small portion of their total production output Cuba New Zealand Thailand
in terms of revenue. Another complicating Czech Republic Nigeria Turkey
factor for researchers is that some companies Denmark North Korea Ukraine
producing small arms, light weapons, or Egypt Norway United Kingdom
ammunition are joint-venture enterprises Finland Pakistan United States
France Philippines Vietnam
with controlling interests in several countries.
Georgia Poland Zimbabwe
One example is MBDA Missile Systems, which
is a joint venture involving BAE Systems Source: Berman and Leff (2008, pp. 34-35)
Table 2 Selected companies producing small arms and light weapons, by country*
India Bharat Dynamics Ltd Light weapons and light weapons ammunition
Ordnance Factories Board Light weapons, light weapons ammunition, small arms, and small arms ammunition
Iran Defence Industries Organization Light weapons, light weapons ammunition, small arms, and small arms ammunition
Israel Elbit Systems Ltd Light weapons and light weapons ammunition
Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd Light weapons and light weapons ammunition
Israel Military Industries Ltd Light weapons, light weapons ammunition, and small arms
Rafael Advanced Defence Systems Ltd Light weapons and light weapons ammunition
SK Group Light weapons and small arms
Italy Beretta Holding SpA Light weapons, small arms, and small arms ammunition
Finmeccanica SpA Light weapons and light weapons ammunition
Fiocchi Munizioni SpA Small arms ammunition
Japan Asahi-Seiki Manufacturing Co. Ltd Small arms ammunition
Howa Machinery Co. Ltd Light weapons and small arms
North Koreaf First Machine Industry Bureau Light weapons and small arms
Norway Nammo ASg Light weapons, light weapons ammunition, and small arms ammunition
Pakistan Pakistan Ordnance Factories Light weapons, light weapons ammunition, small arms, and small arms ammunition
Russian Central Research Institute for Precision Machine Building Light weapons, light weapons ammunition, small arms, and small arms ammunition
Federation (TsNIITochMash)
CJSP Klimovsk Specialized Ammunition Plant Small arms ammunition
OJSC V.A. Degtyarev Plant Light weapons, light weapons ammunition, and small arms
OJSC State Research and Production Enterprise Bazalt Less-lethal ammunition, light weapons, light weapons ammunition, and small arms
SC Russian Technologies (Rostec) Light weapons and small arms
South Korea Hanwha Corporation Light weapons and light weapons ammunition
LIG Nex1 Light weapons and light weapons ammunition
Poongsan Corporation Light weapons ammunition and small arms ammunition
S&T Group Light weapons and small arms
Spain INSTALAZA SA Light weapons and light weapons ammunition
MaxamCorp Holding SL Light weapons, light weapons ammunition, and small arms ammunition
Sweden Saab Group Light weapons and light weapons ammunition
Switzerland KRISS Group Small arms
RUAG Group Light weapons, light weapons ammunition, and small arms ammunition
Turkey Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation (MKEK) Less-lethal ammunition, light weapons, light weapons ammunition, small arms,
and small arms ammunition