14:23,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 28, ARMENPRESS. The order books of the world’s biggest defense companies are near record highs after growing by more than 10 per cent in just two years because of rising geopolitical tension, including the conflict in Ukraine, the Financial Times reports.

An analysis by the Financial Times of 15 defense groups, including the largest US contractors, Britain’s BAE Systems and South Korea’s Hanwha Aerospace, found that at the end of 2022 — the latest for which full-year data is available — their combined order backlogs were $777.6bn, up from $701.2bn two years earlier.

The trend’s momentum continued into 2023. In the first six months of this year — the latest comprehensive quarterly data available — combined backlogs at these companies stood at $764bn, swelling their future pipeline of work as governments kept placing orders.

The sustained spending has spurred investors’ interest in the sector. MSCI’s global benchmark for the industry’s stocks is up 25 per cent over the past 12 months. Europe’s Stoxx aerospace and defense stocks index has risen by more than 50 per cent over the same period. 

Total global military expenditure increased by 3.7 per cent in real terms in 2022 to a new high of $2,240bn, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Military expenditure in Europe had its steepest year-on-year increase in at least 30 years as governments in the region announced new orders for ammunition and tanks to replenish national stockpiles depleted by donations sent to Ukraine.