Air defense missiles still constitute the largest single missile market, with the expected production of 48,194 missiles, valued at $24.3 billion, or 23.4% of the total $103.7 billion world missile market during the 2006-2015 decade.

U.S. Army / Patriot Missile System

Air-to-surface missiles came in second, with an expected production of 41,610 missiles valued at $16.3 billion, or 15.7%, during the same period.

Two new trends in missile production came in third and fourth: smart munitions (273,635 guided bombs and 38,615 smart AT munitions) for a total of 312,250 valued at $13.8 billion, or 13.3%, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), 17,976 projected units valued at $12.5 billion, or 12.1%. In the 1997 report from the Fairfax, Va., firm, UAVs made up only 2.5% of the market (5,382 units valued at $2.9 billion).

Other production estimates: surface-to-surface missiles (6,206 forecasted units valued at $9.8 billion) at 9.4%, followed by 140,759 anti-tank missiles valued at $10.9 billion, or 10.6%; 41,470 air-to-air missiles valued at $9.6 billion, or 9.3%, and, finally, 5,050 forecasted anti-ship missiles valued at $6.4 billion, or 6.2% of the total world missile market.

Commenting on the list Steve Zaloga, lead analyst for the Teal Group, said the findings may show that "declines in world defense spending in the 1990s have bottomed out in the past few years so far as missiles are concerned."

"In budget-strapped times, it is more cost effective to add a new generation of dogfight missiles to an older aircraft than to buy a new aircraft," said Zaloga. "Likewise, ships and many other weapons categories. Missiles offer to increase the combat capabilities of many weapons platforms without the need for the expense of replacing the system itself."

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