Why are arms companies still making a profit despite the Corona outbreak?

“Governments around the world have continued to buy weapons during the Corona epidemic, and some have even funded large arms companies,” AFP quoted the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) as saying.

“The demand of governments to strengthen the military industry and adopt supportive policies, including increasing the budget in this area, is one of the reasons,” the report said of the reasons why the world’s arms giants are safe in the midst of difficult economic conditions caused by the corona outbreak. Also, in the last few years, the volume of orders for military weapons from countries has increased.
In recent years, some Arab countries in the region, such as Saudi Arabia, have paid billions of dollars in oil and gas sales to buy staggering weapons from arms companies such as the United States, France and Britain.
Overall, the top 100 arms companies saw profits of 1.3 percent in 2019, despite a contraction of more than 3 percent of the global economy, reaching a record $ 531 billion.
The five major American arms companies have once again taken the world rankings.

The report states that the turnover of hundreds of top arms companies has been growing steadily since 2015, increasing by a total of 17%.
Lockheed Martin (maker of F-35 fighter jets and missiles) topped the list with $ 58.2 billion, beating Raytheon Technologies, which came in second after a major merger. Boeing, Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics were included.
The British company BAE Systems was slightly ahead of the three Chinese groups in the sixth place to get the highest ranking among the European arms companies.
Among the countries with the highest arms production, only France and Russia saw their companies lose sales last year.
“Continued government demand for military goods and services has largely protected arms manufacturers,” the SIPRI Institute said in its annual assessment of arms companies.
The Swedish-based institute notes that arms companies have used large-scale economic injections, as well as special measures taken to pay them financial aid, such as urgent payments and purchase orders, and have not only continued to operate. They have also made huge profits.
Because military contracts usually last for several years, arms companies have been able to make money before the crisis caused by the widespread corona outbreak.
“Despite various factors, the global construction of weapons has not been entirely immune to the effects of the Corona epidemic,” the report said.
The report notes that the rate of increase in arms manufacturers’ profits has dropped significantly between 2019 and 2020, noting that measures taken to prevent the spread of the Corona virus have disrupted the financing chain in the arms sector.