When I came across this list of the top 10 Federal contractors, not only were they all defense contractors, it also gave a eyes-glance breakdown of what the U.S. purchases from each. Nice if you're an investor. I find it interesting that the F35 has been in production for 14+ years. Seriously? By the time we get one that works, it'll be time to fund development of a new one. From Nationalpriorities:
10. Huntington Ingalls Industries, $4.7 billion.
Huntington Ingalls describes itself as “America’s largest military shipbuilding company.”
9. BAE Systems, $5.0 billion.
BAE Systems traffics in “defence, aerospace and security solutions” (and yes, they are a British company with significant operations in the U.S.), with products ranging from amphibious combat vehicles to “hyper velocity projectiles.”
8. L-3 Communications Holdings, $5.8 billion.
L-3 bills itself as a “prime contractor in aerospace and national security solutions.” Its products include explosive detection systems and holographic weapons sights, among others.
7. United Technologies Corporation, $6.0 billion.
UTC is a parent company for defense contractors Pratt & Whitney, UTC Aerospace Systems, and Sikorsky. Pratt & Whitney is the maker of the F-35 jet fighter engine, among others, while Sikorsky is the maker of the Black Hawk helicopter.
6. McKesson Corporation, $6.2 billion.
On its face, health care solutions company McKesson appears to be the lone non-defense contractor among the group. But even McKesson would not be where it is without our country’s penchant for Pentagon spending: it gets $4.2 billion in contracts from Veterans’ Affairs, and an additional $1.6 billion directly from the Department of Defense.
5. Northrop Grumman Corporation, $10.3 billion.
Northrop Grumman bills itself as providing “unmanned systems, cybersecurity, C4ISR, and security” solutions. Northrop Grumman makes the Air Force’s A-10 Thunderbolt II (also known as the “Warthog”), among others.
4. Raytheon Company, $12.6 billion.
Raytheon’s business includes missile defense, electronic warfare, precision weapons, and more, including Tomahawk and Patriot missiles.
3. General Dynamics Corporation, $15.4 billion.
General Dynamics provides aerospace, combat systems, marine systems, and more, including Abrams tanks, MRAPs (Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected) vehicles, and nuclear submarines through its Electric Boat division.
2. Boeing, $19.6 billion.
Boeing specializes in fighter jets, rotorcraft, advanced weapons, and missile defense, including Minuteman missiles, the V-22 Osprey aircraft, and the F-15 aircraft.
1. Lockheed Martin, $32.2 billion.
That’s 7% of all federal contracts, and the equivalent of three percent of discretionary spending in 2014, to just one company.
That company saw over $5.5 billion in profit, and paid its CEO more than $70 million in 2014. And the $32 billion it received from the U.S. government made up more than seventy percent of its total sales.
And Lockheed’s signature product? The F-35 jet fighter, which despite being in development since 2001, and being billions of dollars over budget, is not yet combat ready. The F-35’s top initial selling point?
Affordability.
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