Border Profiteers
The Border Profiteers List is a database compiling companies which are involved with and profiting from the European border system. The fortification and externalisation of borders is not only driven by political interests but also by being a source of profit for an array of different companies from producers of surveillance equipment and weapons to concrete and food distribution for camps, consultant companies and research facilities.
The Border Profiteers List is a non-exhaustive and growing resource for civil society actors, researchers and activists. An online form to submit contributions to this list will be available here shortly.
As the Border Profiteers List relies on open and public sources we make no warranties about the completeness of information provided in this list. We also do not assume any legal liability or responsibility for outdated, incorrect, or incomplete information. However, we will address reports of outdated, incorrect, or incomplete information as quickly as possible.
A large proportion of the entries is based on research by the Informationsstelle Militarisierung (Information Centre for Militarisation).
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| Registered office | Türkiye - Ankara |
|---|---|
| Categories | arms |
Aselsan is one of the most important quasi-state owned Turkish arms companies and produces mainly electronic components for the core Turkish weapons systems. In the war over Nagorno-Karabakh in autumn 2020, which was fought mainly with combat drones, weapon systems from Aselsan were also used by Azerbaijan and are said to have contributed significantly to its victory.
Read more| Registered office | United Kingdom - London |
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| Categories | arms |
BAE Systems is the biggest British arms company and one of the major suppliers of weapon systems worldwide.
Read more| Registered office | Germany - Oberkochen |
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| Categories | arms |
Carl Zeiss AG is a company in the precision mechanics and optics industry. As a company with a long tradition and world market leader in optical systems, the company was and is extensively involved in equipping military, police and border protection authorities. This ranges from classic binoculars to complex surveillance systems for coasts and land borders to sensor technology used in air and drone defence.
Read more| Registered office | France - Saint-Cloud |
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| Categories | arms |
Dassault Aviation is a French aircraft manufacturer and, among other things, producer of the "Rafale" fighter jet.
Read more| Registered office | Germany - Fürstenfeldbruck |
|---|---|
| Categories | arms |
The Munich-based company ESG (Elektroniksystem und Logistik GmbH) was founded in the 1960s as a joint spin-off of the companies AEG/Telefunken, Rhode & Schwartz and Siemens. It was initially tasked to plan the electronic components for the German Tornado fighter aircraft (which is also designed for use with nuclear weapons). Further defense contracts followed, mainly from Germany, e.g. for the development of the fire control system for the Gepard anti-aircraft gun tank. Today (as of September 2021), ESG is majority-owned by the investment company Armira Partners GmbH & Co KG, according to de.wikipedia.de .
Read more| Registered office | Belgium - Brussels |
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| Categories | arms |
The NATO Science and Technology Organization (STO), with its headquarter in Brussels, is NATO's central institution for technology monitoring and development. It states that it employs 6,000 scientists and is part of a “network” of 200,000 experts in the member and partner countries. It has separate working groups for vehicle technology, information systems and sensors, among others. The STO has a strong focus on maritime armaments and underwater systems, and related activities are coordinated from its "Center for Maritime Research and Experimentation" in La Spezia, Italy.
Read more| Registered office | France - Paris |
|---|---|
| Categories | arms |
The Naval Group is a defense company largely owned by the French state. The remaining shares are held (up to 2.5%) by the armaments company Thales. While Thales focusses on the aerospace industry, the Naval Group specializes primarily on equipping naval forces and coastguards. Besides the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, the Naval Group produces various frigates, i.e. for the French and Italian navies, as well as nuclear-capable submarines and torpedoes. Besides armament in the narrower sense, the Naval Group is also involved in the planning and construction of power plants, including nuclear power plants.
Read more| Registered office | Poland - Warsaw |
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| Categories | arms |
The PIAP (Przemysłowy Instytut Automatyki i Pomiarów), Industrial Research Institute for Automation and Measurements) is categorized by the EU Commission as a "research organization", but it also manufactures products serially, especially robotics and market them globally. Under the URL "antiterrorism.eu" used solely by PIAP, it praises its products for the police and military and lists Pakistan, Belarus, China and other as customers.
Read more| Registered office | France - Paris |
|---|---|
| Categories | arms |
Thales is one of the ten largest defence companies in the world, supplying everything from satellite communication modules and ground radars to autonomous weapon systems on ships, mainly to armed forces.
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