Military spending is one of the cornerstones of the U.S. economy. Several of the largest companies in America are primarily military contractors. The state that has the most defense contractors that work with the U.S. Army is Virginia.

Almost certainly Virginia has the most U.S. Army contractors because it is the state closest to Washington D.C., along with Maryland. It is not, therefore, a coincidence that Maryland is the state with the fourth-most contactors.

Virginia is home to 53 Army contractors, according to the most recent Army Weapon Systems Handbook for 2020-2021. These include some of the world’s largest aerospace and defense companies – General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon – as well as smaller ones such as Bowhead, Collins Aerospace, and Eagle Industries.

Raytheon ranks No. 58 on the Fortune 500, which ranks America’s largest companies based on annual revenue. Raytheon’s annual revenue was $64.4 billion. General Dynamics, which ranks 94th on the Fortune 500 had revenue of $38.5 billion, and Nortrup Grumman, which is No. 101, had revenue of $35.7 billion.

The weapons systems with these companies include common hardware systems, joint battle command-platform, aviation combined arms tactical trainer, and soldier protection system. (Here is the weapon the U.S. military spends the most money on.)

Next door is Maryland, with 39 Army contractors operating in the state, including Booz Allen Hamilton and Lockheed Martin, which is No. 55 on the Fortune 500. Lockheed Martin reported revenue almost $68 billion in the most recent fiscal year — about the same as the GDP of Delaware. (Here are companies profiting the most from war.)

Eleven states, mostly on the East Coast, have at least 10 Army weapons contractors, though Texas and California are home to 24 and 44, respectively. These contractors produce weapons systems in development or in active use by the U.S. Army.

See 24/7 Wall St.’s list of the states with the most U.S. army contractors.

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