The sales of arms and military services by the top 100 biggest arms makers grew by 1 percent in real terms to hit US$411.1 billion in 2010, despite the global financial crisis which affects so many other industries, according to the Top 100 Arms Producer List released late February by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), an independent international institute dedicated to researches on armaments, arms control and disarmament.

Most remarkably, the top 10 makers generated US$230 billion, or 56 percent, of the total arms sales. And 7 of the top 10 are from the United States.

Between 2002 and 2010, the total sales, including both sales for domestic procurement and sales for export, surged by 60 percent, with the threshold for moving up into the Top 100 jumping from US$280 million in sales in 2002 to US$640 million in 2010.

The growth rate in 2010 was much slower than in 2009, when it was 8 percent in real terms. This is probably due to the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq and the subsequent expected decrease in related equipment sales, according to the SIPRI arms industry expert Dr. Susan Jackson.

North America and Western Europe continued to predominate the SIPRI Top 100 in 2010, the 23nd edition of its kind. 44 companies are from the United States, accounting for more than 60 percent of the total sales, while 30 are based in Western Europe, taking up 29 percent.

Here, China.org.cn has compiled the top 30 arms makers by total sales of arms and military services in 2010.

   Textron, United States 美国德事隆

 - Rank 2010: 30

- Rank 2009: 34

- Sectors: Aircraft, Electronics, Engines, Military vehicles

- Arms sales 2010: US$2,740 million; Arms sales 2009: US$2,570 million

- Total sales 2010: US$10,525 million

- Arms sales as share of total sales 2010: 26 percent

- Total profit 2010: US$86 million

- Total employment 2010: 32,000

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