President Eisenhower warned of the rise of the military industrial complex in his 1961 farewell address.
It's impossible to know for sure if he was thinking of companies like these, selling about $235 billion in arms every year, but it's possible.
Making weapons has become a U.S. specialty, with 47 American companies filling the top 100 grossing slots in the world.
The following numbers are put together by SIPRI based on numbers from 2010, rank in terms of sales, and offer an unbiased view of how big a business war has become.
#25 CACI International
Global satellite communications equipment supports military intelligence.
Arms sales: $2.3 billion
Total profit: $107 million
Employees: 13,100 people
While CACI International doesn't make weapons, they supply the U.S. Army with an information lifeline.
The TROJAN satellite communication systems provide the Army with a global network of shared mission-critical intelligence.
Source: SIPRI
#24 Goodrich
Arms sales: $2.2 billion
Total profit: $579 million
Employees: 16,300 people
Goodrich is yet another company to get a piece of the F-35 Lightning II cake. They work on the fighter aircraft's landing system.
The U.S. Air Force trusts Goodrich with making their ejection seat of choice, the ACES II. It is most widely used ejection seat today and is credited with saving more than 600 lives.
#23 DynCorp International
Arms sales: $2.4 billion
Total profit: $9 million
Employees: 23,000 people
DynCorp International provides logistical support to the U.S. government defense programs.
In Afghanistan, they are engaged in removing and destroying landmines and light weapons.
They are also involved with supporting air operations and have big contracts with the Department of Defense to maintain rotary and fixed-wing aircraft for all U.S. military branches.
In Afghanistan, they are engaged in removing and destroying landmines and light weapons.
They are also involved with supporting air operations and have big contracts with the Department of Defense to maintain rotary and fixed-wing aircraft for all U.S. military branches.
Source: SIPRI
#22 Navistar Defense
Arms sales: $2.4 billion
Total profit: $223 million
Employees: 18,700 people
Navistar Defense is all about military-strength trucks and engines.
Their MaxxPro (Maximum Protection) product line includes MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protection) vehicles used by the U.S. Marine Corps and the Army. The ambush-protected vehicle has a V-shaped hull to deflect IED blasts away from the troops inside.
#21 ManTech
Arms sales: $2.5 billion
Total profit: $125 million
Employees: 10,100 people
ManTech serves the United States government's advanced technological needs, from maintaining military surveillance systems to detecting incoming attacks on bases. They're a leading provider of C41SR technology.
The company started off in 1968 by developing the U.S. Navy's war-gaming models.
#20 Hewlett-Packard
Arms sales: $2.6 billion
Total profit: $8.7 billion
Employees: 324,600 people
They do more than office supplies and printers.
Hewlett-Packard (HP) is the creator of the Navy Marine Corps Intranet which connects more than 700,000 military and civilian employee accounts, facilitating secure defense communications.
It's network size is second only to the Internet itself.
#19 Textron
Arms sales: $2.7 billion
Total profit: $86 million
Employees: 32,000 people
Textron owns a number of successful brands, such as Bell Helicopters, Cessna Aircraft Company, and Textron Systems, known for drones and armored vehicles.
They are the makers of the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopter, which the U.S. Army uses in Afghanistan for armed reconnaissance and light air combat missions. It replaced the AH-Cobra attack helicopter as a scout aircraft for air cavalry troops. Two Kiowa Warriors can fit inside a C-130.
They are the makers of the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopter, which the U.S. Army uses in Afghanistan for armed reconnaissance and light air combat missions. It replaced the AH-Cobra attack helicopter as a scout aircraft for air cavalry troops. Two Kiowa Warriors can fit inside a C-130.
#18 Rockwell Collins
Arms sales: $2.9 billion
Total profit: $561 million
Employees: 20,000 people
Rockwell Collins focuses on navigation, communications, and aviation electronics - anything from a helmet-mounted device to a flight deck display on the colossal C-130 tanker transport aircraft.
As a big customer, the U.S. Army uses the Defense Advanced GPS Receiver, a handheld navigational device for soldiers in the field.
#17 ATK
Arms sales: $2.9 billion
Total profit: $313 million
Employees: 15,000 people
Known as ATK, this defense company is the largest provider of ammunition to the U.S. military and its allies.
From the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in Missouri, ATK can produce up to 1.4 billion rounds of small-caliber ammunition per year.
The U.S. Navy has chosen ATK to develop their Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM).
#16 URS
Arms sales: $3 billion
Total profit: $288 million
Employees: 47,000 people
URS is a world leader in the disposal of weapons of mass destruction.
They partner with Raytheon (#5) in the Joint, Test, Tactics, and Training (JT3) program which supports the testing and training for weapons systems such as the F-35 Lightning we keep mentioning
URS also oversees the U.S. military's Basic Combat Skills Training Course, and are responsible for training aviators from the Army, Air Force, NATO and more than 30 other U.S. allies.
You'll be seeing much more of URS around the world, as they're also behind the design of all future U.S. embassies.
#15 KBR
Arms sales: $3.3 billion
Total profit: $327 million
Employees: 35,000 people
KBR's defense portfolio focuses on base operations support and maintenance services to military facilities and equipment. The U.S. Navy had KBR lead recovery and repair efforts after Hurricane Ivan destroyed parts of Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, in September 2004.
#14 ITT Exelis
Arms sales: $4 billion
Total profit: $654 million
Employees: 40,000 people
The corporation's defense branch is called Exelis and is currently partnered with Boeing in a competition to develop the U.S. military's Next Generation Jammer (NGJ) array transmitter technology.
The NGJ program aims to give U.S. troops total dominance of the electronic battlefield with the ability to disable enemy communications and radars.
The company also develops the Joint Tactical Radio System's Bowman Waveform, which allows U.S. forces to communicate securely with U.K. troops.
#13 Pratt & Whitney
Arms sales: $4 billion
Total profit: Contributed to parent company United Technologies' $4.7 billion
Employees: 35,000 people
Pratt & Whitney produces military engines and is responsible for the F135 engine in Lockheed Martin's F-35 Lightning II strike fighter plane, which is slated to be the Allied fighter of the 21st century.
The company also has engines in the F-22 Raptor, the C-17 Globemaster III, the B-52, and the EA-6B Prowler among other aircrafts. Their impressive client list includes 27 armed forces around the world.
#12 General Electric
Arms sales: $4.3 billion
Total profit: $11.6 billion
Employees: 287,000 people
General Electric makes electronic warfare its business. The company's defense program is focusing on military communications systems that meet the modern threat of hacking and network sabotage.
They also design products that protect both military systems and the people operating them. The IPS5100 can be used in armored vehicles to give troops 360° situational awareness with the help of panoramic imagery that can be manipulated by touch screen, joystick and game-style controller. Operators can "interact" with the imagery and have eyes on the theatre of operation while staying protected in-vehicle.
#11 Honeywell
Arms sales: $5.4 billion
Total profit: $2 billion
Employees: 130,000 people
Honeywell's military arm supplies engine parts for anything from the Abrams M1 Main Battle Tank (General Dynamics) and the CH-47 Chinook (Boeing) helicopter, to weapons systems designed by other defense companies that made this list.
Name any U.S. Air Force aircraft, and you will likely find Honeywell products within its engineering.
Honeywell also comes up with covert solutions for guided weapons when relying on GPS is out of the question. Bottom line is: they make military stuff work.
#10 Computer Sciences Corp
Arms sales: $6 billion
Total profit: $759 million
Employees: 91,000 people
With a focus on technology-based solutions, the CSC's aerospace and defense sector is booming. Among its portfolios, it is responsible for training and simulation services for the U.S. military.
In January this year, the U.S. Navy awarded CSC a $60 million dollar task order to instruct naval aviation simulator training programs.
The U.S. Army has previously used CSC for designing battlefield simulations to help improve survivability by training soldiers and medics to save lives while under fire.
#9 Oshkosh
Arms sales: $7 billion
Total profit: $790 million
Employees: 12,400 people
Oshkosh Truck's defense branch is responsible for delivering severe-duty tactical and armored vehicles.
The U.S. Marine Corps recently placed a $94 million dollar order for more than 200 Oshkosh LVSR (Logistics Vehicle System Replacement) cargo trucks, the Corps' heavy-payload platform of choice since it first debuted in Afghanistan in 2009.
#8 SAIC
Arms sales: $8.2 billion
Total profit: $618 million
Employees: 43,400 people
SAIC's national security sector provides the Department of Defense, the FBI and other U.S. government civil agencies with engineering systems and anti-terrorism technologies.
The SAIC Force Protection Suite, an integrated surveillance system, is used by U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan to decide when and how to respond to enemy threat.
#7 United Technologies
Arms sales: $11.4 billion
Total profit: $4.7 billion
Employees: 208,220 people
United Technologies' military services business is most noted for the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, manufactured by subsidiary Sikorsky Aircraft.
The corporation also develops technology for aerospace and building industries.
#6 L-3 Communications
Arms sales: $13 billion
Total profit: $95.5 million
Employees: 63,000 people
The company's C3ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) solutions are used by all branches of the U.S. military.
L-3 Communications says their small manned airborne intelligence-gathering platform, aptly named SPYDR, is the most versatile and inescapable in the world. It casts a "web" that captures mission-critical intelligence about its targets and delivers the information in real time.
#5 Raytheon
Arms sales: $23 billion
Total profit: $1.9 billion
Employees: 46,900 people
Raytheon's sectors of expertise are missiles and electronics.
Their intelligence and information systems are used by the Missile Defence Agency, NASA, the Department of Defense and even the United Kingdom's Border Agency.
#4 General Dynamics
Arms sales: $24 billion
Total profit: $2.6 billion
Employees: 90,000 people
General Dynamics produces military vehicles such as the legendary Abrams M1 Main Battle Tank, as well as ships, munitions, and military-grade communication systems.
The company has also been awarded an $8 million dollar contract for work on U.S. Navy nuclear-powered attack submarines.
#3 Northrop Grumann
Arms sales: $28 billion
Total profit: $2 billion
Employees: 117,100 people
Northrop Grumann's areas of focus include drones and cyber security in support of its homeland security solutions.
They also develop CBRNE (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosives) detection systems in place around the U.S. to identify potential threats.
The corporation recently pledged to further deepen its commitment to hiring former service members, in partnership with President Obama's Joining Forces initiative to integrate more veterans into the civilian workforce.
#2 Boeing
Arms sales: $31.4 billion
Total profit: $2.9 billion
Employees: 160,500 people
The military arm of Boeing's business is most known for the Global Strike military aircraft program.
It supplies the U.S. military and other international forces with the likes of the AH-64D Apache combat helicopter, drones, missiles like the A160T Hummingbird, and the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet strike fighter.
The U.S. Air Force favors the F-15E Strike Eagle, which has a perfect air-to-air combat record so far with more than a hundred victories and no losses.
#1 Lockheed Martin
Arms sales: $35.7 billion
Total profit: $2.9 billion
Employees: 132,000 people
Lockheed Martin's main weapons system is the F-35 joint strike fighter, expected to become one of the world's largest military aircraft programs.
In expanding their F-35 program, Lockheed Martin opened a manufacturing facility in Pinellas Park, Florida, to develop parts for the F-35 Lightning II
In expanding their F-35 program, Lockheed Martin opened a manufacturing facility in Pinellas Park, Florida, to develop parts for the F-35 Lightning II
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/top-25-us-defense-companies-2012-2?op=1#ixzz2dd9Z0r6p
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