Getting More Bucks for the Bang: America's Top Military Contractors

As you all may recall from my last article, America's 25+ year war has resulted in a severe shortage of munitions and spare parts, which are critical to maintain our "bombing for Democracy". In several cases, the US military is down to a single provider for certain parts or chemical ingredients. This got me to thinking about just who are major military contractors. Given that the Industrial-Military complex, of which we've been repeatedly warned, is not just a multi-billion business, but a key player in determining our foreign policy (and whose lobbyist even help write the bills legislators will vote on and whose money plays as serious factor in funding their campaigns), I thought I'd like to take a look at the major players.

Tops on the list is Lockheed Martin, which is known for its missile systems and fighters such as the F-35 Lighting II. They are currently working on a $528 million dollar interceptor missile system called "THAAD", which stands for Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile system which is to be used as a "shield" from short and middle range ballistic missile attacks. Lockheed Martin currently has 66,353 contracts awarded totaling $29.4 billion dollars. Lockheed makes a vast array of other military hardware including the F-22 Raptor, C-130 Hercules, F-16 Falcon, P-3 Orion, F-117 Nighhawk, and the AC-130W Stinger.

Coming in second is Boeing, which not only produces commercial passenger planes but military aircraft such as the EA-18G "Growler" which provides tactical electronic jamming designed to interfere with enemy communications and various electronic equipment. That contract is valued at $897.5 million dollars. Boeing has 12,645 contracts totaling $14.6 billion dollars. Boeing also make the C-17 Globemaster III, KC-135 Stratotanker, E-3 AWACS surveillance aircraft, drones, and various types of satellites.

Third on the list is Raytheon Company. Raytheon produces precision munitions, including the 464 Excalibur extended range projectiles; a $31.8 million dollar contract. The Excalibur is reputed to be longest range and most accurate cannon fired projectile in the world. Good for reaching out and touching those special "someone's". They also produce other systems like the TOW, Patriot Missile, AMRAAM, HAARP, Tomahawk Cruise missile, and AIM 9x Sidewinder. Raytheon has 10,000 contracts worth $12.3 billion dollars.

Forth is General Dynamics, which has been one of those long time military contractor going back decades to World War I. General Dynamics has 20,822 military contracts worth $11.8 billion dollars. They are currently working on $664.3 million contract to produce an additional DDG-51 Class Destroyer for the US Navy, which is described as a "all steel, gas turbine ship equipped with a AEGIS combat system, Vertical Launching System, an advanced anti-submarine warfare system, two embarked SH-60 helicopters, advanced anti-aircraft missiles, satellites, and Tomahawk anti-ship/anti-land attack missiles. Sounds like a lot of "bang" for the bucks doesn't it? In addition, General Dynamics is known for the M-1 Abrams Main Battle Tank, Stryker, Buffalo, Cougar, and Ajax armored fighting vehicles. Of course, there's the ever handy GAU-19/B .50 caliber Gatling gun and the Hydra 70 unguided missile systems, the M2/M2-A1 heavy machine gun, and the MK19/MK47 grenade launcher which are good for keeping those pesky neighbors on their side of the fence.

Fifth on the Top 10 list of leading military contractors is Northrop Grumman which has produced some of America's most famous aircraft like the Stealth Fight and Stealth Bomber. The company has been tasked with producing a new generation long range stealth bombers to replace the Air Force's aging fleet of bombers. The contract is worth $55 billion dollars. The company currently has 10,397 contracts totaling $9.5 billion dollars. They also manufacture the A-10 Thunderbolt II or as it's better known, the "Warthog", the E-2D Advance Hawkeye surveillance aircraft, the B-2 Stealth Bomber, F-18 Super Hornet, and the F-35 Lighting II.

Sixth is United Technologies, with 24,626 contracts valued at $6.6 billion dollars. The company is working on a $1.04 billion contract to produce a new generation of engines for the F-35 multipurpose fighter jet through its subsidiary, Pratt & Whitney. They also produce everything for ejection seats to highly sensitive surveillance systems for drones as well as defense satellites, sensors, and controls.

Coming in at seventh is L3 Communications which produces various type of optic equipment for the military. With 7,622 contracts worth $5 billion, the company has reputed to be having trouble with it optical systems functioning in extreme weather conditions. In 2001, the Pentagon awarded EOTech, a subsidiary of L3 Communications, a contract of $24 million dollars for a holographic optical system. However, the program was plagued with problems, which were divulged until 2013. As a result, L3 Communications was forced to settled the matter with the Pentagon for $25.6 million. In a world where you're only as good as your last success, this doesn't bode well for L3 Communications.

In eight place is BAE System, a British company, which produces the M109A7 Self-propelled howitzer and M992A3 ammo carrier for the US Army and Marines Corp. A $245.3 million contract will upgrade the Paladin chassis system. As a bonus, it includes a "high voltage" gun drive and projectile ramming system for rapid hands-off loading. BAE Systems has 10,133 contracts worth $4.2 billion dollars. BAE also manufactures the MK-38 Mod-3 machine gun system for ships, the 40MK Naval Gun, and the 57MM Naval Gun, as well various control systems.

In ninth place comes something of a surprise, Humana, Inc. The Louisville, Kentucky based company provides healthcare for active duty, veterans, and their families through the TRICARE Health System. Humana has 206 contracts valued at $3.5 billion dollars. Other healthcare providers include Health Net, Inc, Merck & Company Inc, Cardinal Health Inc, Pfizer Inc, GlaxoSmithKline Inc, United Healthcare Group, and McKesson Corporation.

Finally, in tenth place is Bechtel Corporation with 201 contracts worth $4.6 billion dollars. Bechtel is a engineering, procurement, construction, and project management company; in fact, it is the largest American construction company and the eighth largest private corporation in the US. The company manages the majority of the US nuclear and national security related sites. Some of the sites it manages are the Hoover Dam, Los Alamos/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, San Francisco's BART or Bay Area Rapid Transport subway system, the Watts Bar Nuclear Generating Station, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, and Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant. They also manage key nuclear and transportation sites in places like Kuwait (Kuwaiti Oil Field Restoration), Saudi Arabia (Jubal Industrial City, the UK (the Chunnel and the high speed rail system), and the Chernobyl Nuclear Power plant Stabilization Project.

Of course, these are just the top ten defense contractors and doesn't include companies like Hewlett-Packard, Honeywell, Hughes Corporation, Huntington Ingalls Industries, General Electric, Harris Corporation, General Atomics, or companies like Leidos which is a scientific, engineering and biological research company or the various pharmaceutical, laboratory, and technical research companies and universities . It also doesn't it touch the internationally based corporations which do business with the Pentagon such as Leonardo (UK), Thales Group (France), Airbus (EU), or Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (Japan).

I also have to point out that various lists have several of these companies ranked higher or lower, as well as adding some while not including others. These are based on current contracts and the needs of the military at a given time plus approval of the Pentagon's "wish list" for assorted projects. I've included some of the lists below in the references in case you want to compare rankings.

Nevertheless, the "military-industrial complex" is huge; practically no area of economy is not affected in one fashion or another. It includes information technology, medical, genetic and biological research, all specialties of engineering (but especially chemical, robotics and aerospace), computer science, psychology, and even (perhaps especially) academia. America, at present, is engaged in some form of conflict in approximately 75 countries either directly or indirectly with no sign of slowing down. If we were to actually run out of bombs or missiles (which is highly unlikely), we'd no doubt start dropping sacks of rocks! Face it, we're all tied to the war machine in one way or another.

Meanwhile, there are approximately 553,000 homeless people living in America with 186,000 being families; just over 40,000 of those are veterans, and some 95,000 individuals who are classified as "chronically" homeless (many of these suffer from some form of mental illness and/or addiction). Many of these individuals work, but simply don't earn enough to afford either an apartment or house due to the nature of their work while others simply don't qualify for any kind of aid for various reasons.

While the number of those in poverty has fallen over the last two years, there are still 40.6 million American living in poverty, which includes 13.3 million children according to the Marguerite Casey Foundation, with the overall poverty rate standing at 12.7%. 4.6 million seniors (65 and older) currently live in poverty (by the way, I'm specifically not separating by race because in my opinion, poverty is poverty regardless of skin color).

According to the association, Farmers & Hunters Feeding the Poor, 1 in 8 Americans struggle with having enough to eat; many are forced to choose between paying their bills--rent, heat, medical--or buying food. In 2016, 41% of major cities saw an increase in requests for emergency food assistance. Of that figure, 63% were families. 51% were currently employed, and 18% were elderly while 8% were homeless. In fact, the US has one of the highest poverty rate of any industrial nations in the world (we are ranked 29th out of 31 industrial countries according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

While this may offend some (too bad), there should be no excuse whatsoever for people going hungry in this country, especially children, the elderly, and handicapped. None. We export tons of food to other countries, and what doesn't go overseas often gets destroyed. There should never be a reason for unintentional homelessness in this country, particularly among our most vulnerable, I am especially irritated that we fail to take care of our veterans as well as we should, and instead spend billions on illegal immigrants and nations overseas ( we spend approximately $130 billion on illegal immigration and Trump signed off for $55.9 billion in foreign aid in the 2018 budget, which also includes money to help prop up various governments).

In June 2018, the US Senate voted to approved a budget of $716 billion dollars for the Pentagon, with an eye toward the $1 billion mark within the next few years. That's 17% of the entire US budget. It also represents a $82 billion dollar increase over its 2017 budget and despite that fact that we're nearing a $1 trillion dollar deficit. Meanwhile the Department of Health and Human Services will see its budget cut by 33%; HUD by 13% and the Department of Education by 14%. The Small Business Administration's cut is 5% but Labor Department's is 21%. The EPA will see a 31% cut in its budget. Something about that just doesn't seem right.

The US doles out billions of dollars to defense contractors in order to fund our never-ending "War on Terror", which often creates more enemies than we had before! Plus we shouldn't forget the "enemies" our intelligence agencies have manufactured for us either, usually to help overthrow some government that won't cooperate with the corporate puppet masters, the Oligarchy, which seems to control just about everything. Couldn't we drop a few thousand less bombs or build a few dozen less bombers, tanks, or war ships and spend it on those who could really use a helping hand up in this country?

Perhaps instead of trying to bomb whole populations back to the Stone Age (which is redundant since most are only a few steps removed to begin with), we should focus on building more schools, agricultural systems like proper farming and irrigation techniques; in short, teaching people how to be more self reliant. We should teach them basic healthcare techniques (such birth control and disease prevention), and let them decide what type of government they want. It seems that by helping people improve their lives (not doing it for them), the US could help build more friendly neighbors and spend less money on bombs. Who knows, perhaps the money we save could be used to improve our quality of life here at home.

The Top 9 biggest defense contractors in America

America's 15 biggest defense contractors

Top 100 Contractors of the U.S. federal government

List of defense contractors

All's Fair in Love Of War

The Military Industrial Complex. We've all heard the name. Some people see it as proof of America's supremacy. Others see it as a cancer. President Eisenhower warned us about it in his 1961 Farewell Address to the American Public. President John Kennedy alluded to it in his speech before the American Newspaper Publishers Association also in 1961 (Kennedy was assassinated in 1963). We have been at war in the Middle East almost continually since 1990, beginning with Saddam's invasion of Kuwait and our subsequent liberation of Exxon and BP...err...I mean the Kuwaiti Royal Family and its people. The "War on Terror", which began in 2001, it has been going on ever since (technically, even longer. The first terror attack on US troops was in 1983 in Beirut, Lebanon following an earlier attack on a US Embassy).

America is "officially" at war (undeclared of course) with seven countries---Syria, Afghanistan, Niger, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, and Libya---thanks to the 2002 "Authorization for the Use of Military Force to Fight Al-Qaeda-linked militias". Never heard of it before? Yeah, don't be surprised. It was one of this "none-of-your-business" pieces of legislation passed by Congress on September 14, 2001 in the wake of the 9/11 attack. The AUMF, which mentions an additional six countries, contains no geographical restrictions, so US military might can be deployed anywhere at any time.

In fact, the bombing business is so good that the US is actually running out of bombs, seriously. The Pentagon is planning on investing an additional $20 billion dollars of its...I mean "our" money...in munitions as outlined in its 2018 budget. According to the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, the US has dropped approximately 1,186 munitions in just the first quarter of 2018. That's a lot folks. One key problem facing the Pentagon is that several of its suppliers simply can't keep up and have decided to quit the bomb making business. That places the Pentagon in a position where it is becoming more dependent of foreign suppliers and you'll never guess who one of those suppliers is?

Ok, I know you can't stand the suspense so I'll tell you. China. Yeah, you read that right. Communist China is one of our suppliers for munitions (now do you understand the Beltway uproar over President Trump placing tariffs on Chinese imports?). As for trying to create a broader market for all things that go bang, there really isn't any. With other suppliers dropping out, that leaves Lockheed Martin and Raytheon producing 97% of all the military's missiles and munitions (talk about businesses "to big to fail").

The Department of Defense (DoD) has publicly identified four critical areas of concern. The first is the production of solid rocket motors (SRMs). At present there are only two producers of SRMs, Orbital ATK and AeroJetRocketdyne, with Orbital ATK taking on the majority of the business. The next area is thermal batteries. These are used in every form of bombs and munitions employed by the US military. At present there is only one producer, which happens to dominate 80% of the market (the DoD declined to name the company).

Third on the critical list are fuses. Nothing goes "boom" without these. The DoD in typical bureaucratic Orwellian doublespeak says there are actually an excess of fuses available thanks to improvements elsewhere, however, it has also reduced the number of potential supplies. So apparently having to many fuses is a bad thing. Last on the list are small turbine engines. There currently only two producers of military grade turbines, Teledyne Turbine Engines and Williams International, however, Teledyne has announced that they're getting out of the business, which will leave the DoD with only one supplier (unless the Chinese want to step up). The DoD found that of 121 second tier suppliers of munitions, 98% of them were a single source provider. Of the 73 third tier providers, 98% of those were also single source. But wait, it gets more interesting.

The Pentagon has confirmed that it sole producer of a chemical propellant, Dimeryl Diisoyanate, which is used AIM-9X and AMRAAM missiles is quitting, thus leaving the military with no qualified producers. That means missiles stay in the launch tubes. Yikes! Another key component used by missiles is Dechlorane Plus 25, which is needed for insulation. Since there are no US producers, the US military has turned to the Belgian company Occidental Chemical, the only qualified producer.

However, despite the risks of being dependent on a foreign company for a key material, Occidental Chemical is itself dependent on a Chinese manufacturer that produces the pre-cursor needed to manufacture the propellant. According to the Chinese, its source has been exhausted and there is none left in the world. This is part of a growing trend faced by the Pentagon; increasingly shortages of chemicals needed to support various munitions and missiles, which is forcing the military to pay increasing prices as demand continues to grow while supply diminishes or simply evaporates altogether. The result is systems are having to be redesigned to find substitutes if possible or scraped.

As if this isn't bad enough for the Pentagon, spare parts for planes, tanks, truck, and other vehicles are in short supply. 22% of the Marine Corp's F-35's are grounded worldwide due to a lack of spare parts, reducing its readiness to only about 50% (one article cited a USAF pilot being grounded because a plastic clip on his helmet was broken and they couldn't get a spare clip from the supplier). The military, as a result, has gone into the scrounging business and looking for anything it use in so-called "boneyards" where old planes and other military equipment are consigned after reaching the end of their usefulness. They are also turning to other countries that we've sold weapons to and offering to buy back some of the spare parts. In a few cases, collectors have been contacted for possible leads. They are even raiding military museums for possible parts!

According to the Heritage Foundation's "2018 Assessment of US Military Strength", the US Army can field 31 Brigade Combat Teams (BCT). However, due to shortages of equipment and manpower, we have only three that are capable of "fighting tomorrow" and ten that are able to meet most of their assigned combat tasks (the military is suffering a personnel shortage due to the upswing in the economy, making jobs more plentiful. Another reason is that due to the numerous deployments and combat stress, a large number are leaving due to "burnout" and stress on the home lives, especially marriages). In addition, the report cites the need for an additional 19 BCTs (for a total of 50) just to meet historical requirements. The report indicated that the Army's capacity and capability are weak while its readiness is marginal.

The report also indicated that the US Navy's fleet is underpowered in the number of ships capable of extended deployment. Recently Congress had recommended a reduction in the total number of ships to pre-WWII levels. It goes on to recommend an increase to a 355 ship fleet from its current 305 and an increase to 13 aircraft carriers from the present 11. Attack submarines should be increased to 66 from their current number of 48, while surface ships need to go from 88 to 104. Deployment of aircraft carriers need to be extended to 36 months from the current 32 while surface ships need to match the carriers in deployment, going from 27 months to 36. Overall, both capacity and capability are scored as weak and readiness as marginal.

The Air Force has only four of its 32 combat coded squadrons fully combat capable. Less than 18 are able to complete the majority of its combat missions. Meanwhile, the Air Force, like all the other military branches is finding itself short of skilled personnel. In 2017, it was short 3400 aircraft engine and airframe mechanics. which in turn has grounded planes and thus reduced the number of flight hours pilots can get in for training and missions (along with the spare parts shortage), reducing its operational strength to 76%. In addition, the Air Force is depending on aging planes to meet its combat mission objectives. The reports gives the USAF a score of marginal for capacity, capability, and readiness.

Lastly, the US Marines. The Marines have long been the "tip of the spear" when it comes to boots on the ground anywhere in the world; America's shock troops. However, like the other military branches, it's faced with personnel shortages too. Normally, the USMC has been able to field 36 combat ready battalions. However, it is presently only able to field 24. It's main "combat platform" has been the M1A1/A2 Abrams Main Battle Tanks (also used by the Army). When first deployed in the early 1980's, this tanks was the baddest piece of mechanized hardware on the battlefield anywhere in the world. However, despite updates, it has been surpassed by several newer and more lethal tanks including the Chinese Type 99A, the Israeli Merkava, the UK Challenger II, but most notably two Russian tanks, the T-90 and the Armata T-14. In addition to losing its main platform superiority, the Marines are suffering from shortages of spare parts like everyone else.

So, there you have. The US has been at war for 27 years, going back to "Operation Desert Storm" in 1991, which essentially can be broken down into four or five wars, depending on how you want to count our two invasions of Iraq. We are militarily involved in approximately 76 countries. George W Bush, who launched the "War on Terror" following the 9/11, resulting in the bombing of five countries or 70,000 bombs during his term. President Obama expanded the bombing to seven countries, which equated to 100,000 bombs. Under President Trump, approximately 44,000 bombs have fallen thus far, which equals around one bomb every 12 minutes according to one report.

The Pentagon requested and got a $716 billion dollar budget which the majority of both Republicans and Democrats approved. I have to wonder what else we could buy with just a fraction of that---more schools, cures for cancer and other diseases, repairing the nation's crumbling infrastructure , securing our border, improving the quality of healthcare, or more cops on the street? But here we are. We're dropping so many bombs that we're not only running out, but suppliers are quitting, and highly skilled military personnel are walking away.

There's also the argument that US intelligence agencies and the military conspired to create the enemies--the "terrorists"--and the concept of the never-ending war for profit to consider too. After all, these military contractors are among the most powerful lobbyists in Washington and among the Oligarchs who now run our country. We are now faced with a beast that is feeding on itself and its appetite is both ravenousness and insatiable. To quote from Shakespeare's Mark Anthony in the play Julius Caesar, "Cry Havoc, and let slip the dogs of war!" (Act 3 Scene 1), and so we have dear reader, we've allowed them to slip their leashes.


Timeline: US involvement with Iraq and the broader Middle East

US at war in 7 countries...

The US is running out of bombs and it may soon struggle to make more

An Assessment of US Military Power