“23 of Europe’s 26 biggest defense companies saw revenue rise in 2024, but threat of supply problems growing”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
As the researchers explain, this growth was related to the demand caused by the war in Ukraine and the threat from Russia.
For example, the Czech company Czechoslovak Group recorded the sharpest increase in revenues from arms sales among all companies from the TOP-100 rating in 2024: by 193% to $3.6 billion. The company connects most of its revenues with Ukraine. Czechoslovak Group took advantage of the Czech Ammunition Initiative, a government project to supply artillery shells to Ukraine.
The Ukrainian company Ukroboronprom increased its revenues from arms sales by 41% to $3.0 billion.
“European arms companies are investing in new production facilities to meet growing demand. But the supply of materials may become an increasing problem. In particular, dependence on critical minerals is likely to complicate Europe’s rearmament plans,” says SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Program Researcher Jade Guiberto Ricard.
As an example of the risks of such dependence, SIPRI cites the trans-European company Airbus and France’s Safran, which met half of their titanium needs until 2022 at the expense of Russian imports and were forced to look for new suppliers. Also, given China’s export restrictions on critical minerals, companies such as France’s Thales and Germany’s Rheinmetall have warned in 2024 of the potentially high costs of restructuring their supply chains.
Global arms revenues rose sharply in 2024 as demand was boosted by the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, global and regional geopolitical tensions, and ever-higher military spending. For the first time since 2018, all five of the largest arms companies increased their revenues from arms sales.
Rising revenues and new orders have prompted many defense companies to expand production lines, increase capacity, create new subsidiaries or pursue acquisitions.