A defense contractor is a business organization or individual that provides products or services to a military or intelligence department of a government. Products typically include military or civilian aircraft, ships, vehicles, weaponry, and electronic systems, while services can include logistics, technical support and training, communications support, and engineering support in cooperation with the government.
Security contractors do not generally provide direct support of military operations. Under the 1949 Geneva Conventions, military contractors engaged in direct support of military operations may be legitimate targets of military interrogation.
In the United States, defense contracting has taken an increasingly larger role. In 2009, the Department of Defense spent nearly $316 billion on contracts. [1] Contractors have assumed a much larger on-the-ground presence during American conflicts: during the 1991 Gulf War the ratio of uniformed military to contractors was about 50 to 1, while during the first four years of the Iraq War the U.S. hired over 190,000 contractors, surpassing the total American military presence even during the 2007 Iraq surge and 23 times greater than other allied military personnel numbers. [1] In Afghanistan, the presence of almost 100,000 contractors has resulted in a near 1-to-1 ratio with military personnel. [1] The surge in spending on defense services contractors that began in 2001 came to a halt in 2009, leading to the Better Buying Power initiative of 2010. [2] [3]
This is a list of the world's largest arms manufacturers and other military service companies, along with their countries of origin. The information is based on a list published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute for 2022. [4] The numbers are in billions of US dollars.
The expression military–industrial complex (MIC) describes the relationship between a country's military and the defense industry that supplies it, seen together as a vested interest which influences public policy. A driving factor behind the relationship between the military and the defense-minded corporations is that both sides benefit—one side from obtaining weapons, and the other from being paid to supply them. The term is most often used in reference to the system behind the armed forces of the United States, where the relationship is most prevalent due to close links among defense contractors, the Pentagon, and politicians. The expression gained popularity after a warning of the relationship's detrimental effects, in the farewell address of U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower on January 17, 1961.
DynCorp International Inc., was an American private military contractor. Started as an aviation company, the company also provided flight operations support, training and mentoring, international development, intelligence training and support, contingency operations, security, and operations and maintenance of land vehicles. DynCorp received more than 96% of its more than $3 billion in annual revenue from the U.S. federal government. The corporate headquarters were in an unincorporated part of Fairfax County near Falls Church, Virginia, while the company's contracts were managed from its office at Alliance Airport in Fort Worth, Texas. DynCorp provided services for the U.S. military in several theaters, including Bolivia, Bosnia, Somalia, Angola, Haiti, Colombia, Kosovo and Kuwait. It also provided much of the security for Afghan president Hamid Karzai's presidential guard and trained much of the police forces of Iraq and Afghanistan. DynCorp was also hired to assist recovery in Louisiana and neighboring areas after Hurricane Katrina. The company held one contract on every round of competition since receiving the first Contract Field Teams contract in 1951.
A private military company (PMC) or private military and security company (PMSC) is a private company providing armed combat or security services for financial gain. PMCs refer to their personnel as "security contractors" or "private military contractors".
KBR, Inc. is a U.S. based company operating in fields of science, technology and engineering.
A war profiteer is any person or organization that derives unreasonable profit from warfare or by selling weapons and other goods to parties at war. The term typically carries strong negative connotations. General profiteering, making a profit criticized as excessive or unreasonable, also occurs in peacetime. An example of war profiteers were the "shoddy" millionaires who allegedly sold recycled wool and cardboard shoes to soldiers during the American Civil War. Some have argued that major modern defense conglomerates like Lockheed Martin, Mitsubishi, Boeing, BAE Systems, General Dynamics, and RTX Corporation fit the description in the post-9/11 era. This argument is based in the political influence of the defense industry, for example in 2010 the defense industry spent $144 million on lobbying and donated over $22.6 million to congressional candidates, as well as large profits for defense company shareholders in the post-9/11 period.
L-3 MPRI was a provider of private military contractor services with customers that included the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, law enforcement agencies, foreign governments, government agencies, and commercial businesses.
Academi, formerly known as Blackwater and Blackwater Worldwide, is an American private military contractor founded on December 26, 1997, by former Navy SEAL officer Erik Prince. It was renamed Xe Services in 2009, and was again renamed to Academi in 2011, after it was acquired by a group of private investors. In 2014, Academi merged with Triple Canopy to form Constellis Holdings.
The arms industry, also known as the defense industry, military industry, or the arms trade, is a global industry which manufactures and sells weapons and other military technology to a variety of customers, including the armed forces of states and civilian individuals and organizations. Products of the arms industry include weapons, munitions, weapons platforms, communications systems, and other electronics, and related equipment. The arms industry also provides defense-related services, such as logistical and operational support. As a matter of policy, many governments of industrialized countries maintain or support a network of organizations, facilities, and resources to produce weapons and equipment for their military forces. This is often referred to as a defense industrial base. Entities involved in arms production for military purposes vary widely, and include private sector commercial firms, state-owned enterprises and public sector organizations, and scientific and academic institutions. Such entities perform a wide variety of functions, including research and development, engineering, production, and servicing of military material, equipment, and facilities. The weapons they produce are often made, maintained, and stored in arsenals.
Titan Corporation was a United States–based company that started as a telecommunications defense contractor with its headquarters located in San Diego, California. It was acquired by L-3 Communications on June 3, 2005 for $2.65 billion and operated as the "Titan Group" of L-3 Communications thereafter. In early 2007, divisions using the Titan Group name were internally directed to discontinue use of the "Titan" moniker and were given new names.
The military budget of the United States is the largest portion of the discretionary federal budget allocated to the Department of Defense (DoD), or more broadly, the portion of the budget that goes to any military-related expenditures. The military budget pays the salaries, training, and health care of uniformed and civilian personnel, maintains arms, equipment and facilities, funds operations, and develops and buys new items. The budget funds six branches of the US military: the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Air Force, and Space Force.
The Iraqi Armed Forces are the military forces of the Republic of Iraq. They consist of the Ground forces, the Army Aviation Command, the Iraqi Air Force, the Air Defence Command and the Iraqi Navy. The armed forces are administered by the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Effective control of the MOD armed forces rests with the Prime Minister of Iraq.
The Iraq War, also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with the invasion by a United States-led coalition, which resulted in the overthrow of the Ba'athist government of Saddam Hussein. The conflict persisted as an insurgency arose against coalition forces and the newly established Iraqi government. US forces were officially withdrawn in 2011. In 2014, the US became re-engaged in Iraq, leading a new coalition under Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve, as the conflict evolved into the ongoing insurgency.
SCG International was founded in 1996 to provide government and private sectors with domestic and international security, logistics and training services. After SCG and its former CEO Jamie Smith lost a $9.5 million lawsuit, the Virginian-Pilot reported that SCG was apparently defunct and that Jamie Smith had left the United States. In August 2012, the US Air Force debarred the company for a period of three years from any federal assistance.
The arms industry of Russia, also known as the defense industry of Russia is a strategically important sector and a large employer in the Russian Federation. It employs approximately 3.5 million people nationwide and accounts for 20% of all manufacturing jobs in Russia. Total defense spending in Russia reached 7.5% of GDP in 2023.
Offsets are compensatory trade agreements, reciprocal trade agreements, between an exporting foreign company, or possibly a government acting as intermediary, and an importing entity. Offset agreements often involve trade in military goods and services and are alternatively called: industrial compensations, industrial cooperation, offsets, industrial and regional benefits, balances, juste retour or equilibrium, to define mechanisms more complex than counter-trade. Counter-trade can also be considered one of the many forms of defense offset, to compensate a purchasing country. The incentive for the exporter results from the conditioning of the core transaction to the acceptance of the offset obligation.
Mission Essential is a government contractor primarily serving intelligence and military clients. It is a provider of translators and interpreters to the US government. The company is based in New Albany, Ohio, with an office in Herndon, Virginia.
The defense industry of Israel is a strategically important sector and a large employer, as well as a major supplier of the Israel Defense Forces. The country is a large exporter of military equipment, accounting for 2.1% of the world total in 2024. Three Israeli companies were listed on the 2022 Stockholm International Peace Research Institute index of the world's top 100 arms-producing and military service companies: Elbit Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries and RAFAEL. It is also a major player in the global arms market with a 2.3% share of the global exports of major arms as of 2023. Total arms transfer agreements topped $12.9 billion between 2004 and 2011. There are over 150 active defense companies based in the country with combined revenues of more than $3.5 billion annually. Israeli defense equipment exports reached $7 billion in 2012, making it a 20 percent increase from the amount of defense-related exports in 2011. With the Russian invasion of Ukraine, arms exports reached $12.5 billion in 2022. Much of the exports are sold to the United States and Europe. Other major regions that purchase Israeli defense equipment include Southeast Asia and Latin America. India is also major country for Israeli arms exports and has remained Israel's largest arms market in the world.
Triple Canopy, Inc., is an American private security company and private military company (PMC) that provides armed security, mission support, and risk management services to corporate and government clients. The firm was founded in May 2003 by United States Army Special Forces veterans, including former Delta Force operators. In June 2014, the firm merged with rival security contracting firm Academi, formerly Blackwater, to form Constellis Group, with Craig Nixon, the former CEO of Academi, becoming the CEO of Constellis Group, and training facilities being consolidated at the existing Academi training facility in North Carolina. It was staffed by, among others, a number of former Army Special Operations personnel, Green Berets, Rangers, SEALs, MARSOC Raiders, other special operations personnel, and several law enforcement officers. At the time of the merger, over 5,000 employees were working for Triple Canopy.
RTX Corporation, formerly Raytheon Technologies Corporation, is an American multinational aerospace and defense conglomerate headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It is one of the largest aerospace and defense manufacturers in the world by revenue and market capitalization, as well as one of the largest providers of intelligence services. In 2023, the company's seat in Forbes Global 2000 was 79. RTX manufactures aircraft engines, avionics, aerostructures, cybersecurity solutions, guided missiles, air defense systems, satellites, and drones. The company is a large military contractor, getting much of its revenue from the U.S. government.
The Saudi Arabian Military Forces (SAMF) is the umbrella term for all the military forces of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Although militarized in nature, each is independent of the other in that they fall under the control of different ministries and/or chain of command. They include: the Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Arabian National Guard, the Saudi Arabian Border Guard, the Saudi Arabian Royal Guard, the Special Operations Forces, and the Special Security Unit.
