Sales of arms and military services by the world’s 100 largest defense companies rose by 1.9% last year to reach $592 billion, according to newly-released data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).Almost a third of the total sales from the Top 100 companies are by the five largest companies on the list, all of which are from the U.S.: Lockheed MartinThe next five on the list include one UK company, BAE Systems, and four Chinese firms – Norinco, AVIC, CASC and CETC – between them these five reported arms sales of almost $102 billion, according to SIPRI.Supply chains and sanctionsThe increase in 2021 sales marked the seventh consecutive year of rising global arms sales, but SIPRI said difficulties with supply chains during the Covid-19 pandemic led to shortages of vital components, delays in global shipping and labour shortages and meant that growth was slower than it might otherwise have been."We might have expected even greater growth in arms sales in 2021 without persistent supply chain issues," said Dr Lucie Béraud-Sudreau, director of the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Program.However, the sales figures from the region are likely to be far higher in reality, as the UAE-based Edge group was not included in the SIPRI list for 2021 as it had not disclosed its sales figures for the year – in recent years it has been ranked among the top 25 arms companies with sales of around $4.7 billion a year."