Rising incidents of war and cross-border conflicts and increasing demand for precision weapon systems for warfare platforms are the major factors driving the automatic weapons market globally.
The automatic weapons market is projected to grow from USD 6.0 billion in 2018 to USD 8.7 billion by 2023, at a CAGR of 7.82% from 2018 to 2023. The market for automatic weapons is driven by several factors, such as the rising number of wars and cross-border disputes, increasing terrorism-related activities, and growing use of offensive weapons by militaries for tactical operations. The growth of the automatic weapons market could, however, be affected by certain major challenging factors in the coming years, such as the complexities involved in the integration of automatic weapons with a wide range of platforms and policy challenges for new technologies.



Based on caliber, the small caliber segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period.
Based on caliber, the automatic weapons market has been segmented into small caliber, medium caliber, and large caliber. Small automatic weapons such as automatic rifles and machine guns have a caliber up to 14.5 mm and are widely used by armies for short-range firing. These can be installed on various platforms due to their low weight for close combat operations. These are mostly anti-personnel weapons and do not have the ability to penetrate armor. The growth of the small caliber segment can be attributed to the increasing demand for automatic light weight weapons worldwide.

North America is estimated to lead the automatic weapons market during the forecast period.
North America is estimated to lead, while the Asia Pacific region is projected to grow at a higher rate in the automatic weapons market during the forecast period. The US and Canada are the key markets for automatic weapons in North America. The US is globally recognized as one of the major manufacturers, exporter, and user of automatic weapons in the world. The North America automatic weapons market is expected to be driven mainly by the rising military budgets as well as ongoing military modernization programs in the US and Canada. For instance, in April 2018, Heckler & Koch Defense, the domestic subsidiary of German gun maker HK, received a contract worth USD 29.4 million for M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle systems from the US Marine Corps.

Break-up of profile of primary participants of the automatic weapons market

  • By Company Type: Tier 1 – 55 %, Tier 2 – 20% and Tier 3 – 25%
  • By Designation: C level – 45%, Director level – 25%, Others – 30%
  • By Region: North America - 25%, Europe – 20%, APAC – 40%, RoW – 15%

Major companies profiled in the report are General Dynamics Corporation (US), Northrop Grumman (US), Rheinmetall AG (Germany), ST Engineering (Singapore), KBP Instrument Design Bureau (Russia), Heckler & Koch AG (Germany), FN Herstal (Belgium), Colt’s Manufacturing Company LLC (US), Israel Weapon Industries (Israel), NORINCO (China), Denel Land Systems (South Africa), Kalashnikov Concern (Russia), BAE Systems (UK), Barrett Firearms Manufacturing (US) and Ukroboronprom (Ukraine), among others.

Research Coverage:

  • This report presents a complete analysis of the automatic weapons market for the forecast period.
  • The automatic weapons market has been broadly classified on the basis of product (automatic rifles, machine guns, automatic launchers, automatic cannons, Gatling guns), end use (land, airborne, naval, handheld & stationary), caliber (small caliber, medium caliber, large caliber), type (fully automatic, semi-automatic), and region.


Reasons To Buy the Report:

  • From an insight perspective, this research report has focused on various levels of analyses industry analysis (industry trends and technology trend), market rank analysis of top players, and company profiles, which together comprise and discuss basic views on the competitive landscape, emerging, and high-growth segments of the automatic weapons market, high-growth regions and countries, and their respective regulatory policies, government initiatives, and market drivers, restraints, and opportunities.


The report provides insights into the following pointers:

  • Market Penetration: Comprehensive information on automatic weapons offered by the top 15 players in the automatic weapons market
  • Product Development/Innovation: Detailed insights on upcoming technologies, research & development activities, and new product launches in the automatic weapons market
  • Market Development: Comprehensive information about lucrative markets - the report analyzes markets for automatic weapons across regions
  • Market Diversification: Exhaustive information about new products, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments in the automatic weapons market
  • Competitive Assessment: In-depth assessment of market shares, strategies, products, and manufacturing capabilities of the leading players in the automatic weapons market