Large Caliber Ammunition Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

Large Caliber Ammunition Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The Large caliber ammunition market is valued at USD 229.89 million in 2021 and is expected to register a CAGR of more than 8.67% during the forecast period to reach USD 401.46 million in 2027.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a negligible impact on the market. This is mainly attributed to the increase in defense expenditure across major world powers. The military expenditure as of 2021 was valued at USD 2.1 trillion with the United States spending the highest, followed by China and India. Furthermore, the growth in geopolitical conflicts among the countries of the region has played a major role in driving the defense spending toward large-caliber weapons and ammunition, thereby driving the market.

Governments across the world are making investments in weapons such as field artillery, mortars, naval guns, etc. to strengthen the land and maritime border security, civilian protection, and lethality of armed forces. These weapons also act as a cost-effective option over costly missiles and rockets used for ground attack operations. These factors are driving the demand for large caliber ammunition globally.

Significant technological advancements such as high-speed projectile firing, laser guidance systems, and the increasing need for friend or foe identification technology and precision targeting technology is driving the market growth for GPS enabled artillery and mortar shells. Due to an increase in political instability, terrorism and border conflicts, the need for rapid deployment of forces has increased, which has simultaneously increased the demand for firepower support on the battlefield, driving the market growth for large-caliber ammunition.

Owing to profound changes in the international strategic landscape, the configuration of international security systems has been undermined by the growing hegemonism, unilateralism, and power politics, which have fueled several ongoing global conflicts. Uncertainties in territorial rights, political tensions, and the quest for universal dominance among the military powerhouses are the major causes disturbing the geopolitical scenario. In this regard, the most common reaction of the governments is to increase their military spending to improve security in their respective countries. Despite the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the global defense expenditure continued to increase in 2020 and 2021. According to SIPRI, the global military expenditure in 2021 rose to USD 2113 billion, an increase of 7% from 2020. billion. Global spending in 2021 was 19% higher than in 2012. The five largest military spenders in 2021 were the United States, China, India, the United Kingdom, and Russia, which accounted for 62% of world military spending. Military powerhouses, such as the United States, United Kingdom, China, and India, have been focused on augmenting their military firepower and defensive capabilities. The colossal budgets are also facilitating the R&D of new weapon and ammunition systems to engage hostile forces and neutralize threats. Several armed forces have invested significant resources for upgrading their military firepower capabilities, including the purchase of vehicle mounted weapons, naval gun systems, mortars, howitzers, among others. This has been increasing the demand for the related ammunition globally.

The US military expenditure increased by almost 2.9% in 2021 to reach USD 801 billion from USD 778.23 billion in 2020. The United States remained the largest defense spending country in 2021 and represented 38% of global spending. For FY 2022, the Department of Defense's budget authority is approximately USD 722 billion, an increase of USD 17 billion from USD 705 billion in 2020, while the FY 2023 President's budget request was USD 773 billion for the DoD. The budget primarily aims at modernizing capabilities in the air, maritime, and land warfighting domains and on innovations to strengthen the country’s competitive advantage. In the 2022 report of the Under Secretary Of Defense, the United States military has requested a budget of USD 24.7 Billion in FY 2023 for missiles and munitions with a prime objective to increase the overall lethality of the force, by procuring at high rates of production, thus fully utilizing the available industrial capacity for high demand weapons and munitions that are essential for the high-end combat. Furthermore, in FY 2023, 9% of the defense budget is requested to allocate toward missiles and munitions, the ammunition portfolio includes bullets, cartridges, mortars, explosives, and artillery projectiles needed mostly by ground forces. Such procurement plans for defense platforms as well as related ammunition is anticipated to drive the market studied in the North America during the forecast period.

The market for large caliber ammunition is fragmented with several established players as well as local manufacturers of the ammunition supplying to various armed forces. Some of the prominent players in the market are General Dynamics, BAE Systems, Orbital ATK (Northrop Grumman), Rheinmetall AG, and Nammo AS. The market is driven by innovations in design, materials, lethality, etc. Several companies are focusing on strengthening their local private and government-owned ammunition companies. Countries like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, China, and India, are encouraging the local manufacturing companies to cater to the need for their respective armed forces, thereby helping the local companies to increase their share in the market studied.

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