By Troy Turner
Lockheed Martin was Alabama’s top defense contractor in 2023, bringing the state more than $1.1 billion in Department of Defense contracts, while Alabama as a state ranked 14th in defense spending nationwide.
The DOD on Tuesday released its 2023 states spending report, including data breaking down the impact of defense spending within each state and a list of top defense contractors. More than $10.4 billion was invested in Alabama during the last fiscal year, providing jobs for more than 50,000 personnel.
Alabama’s 2023 Top 10 list of defense contractors included:
- Lockheed Martin $1.1 billion
- M1 Support Services $541.2 million
- Torch Technologies $513.7 million
- Boeing $452.7 million
- Defense Systems and Solutions $356.2 million
- Austal $355.5 million
- Northrop Grumman $341.0 million
- Dell $333.4 million
- Parsons Corp. $257.5 million
- BAE Systems $218.4 million
Madison County and Huntsville led the way in Alabama locations luring defense contract spending, with $6.8 billion of overall DOD-related spending. The region also led the state in the number of defense personnel employed in the state, including active duty, civilian, National Guard and Reserve, with almost 16,000 people in service.
The Huntsville region is home to the Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command, Redstone Arsenal, and dozens of other military space-defense research and development entities. Along with the military here, there are hundreds of private-enterprise organizations working in support of U.S. defense initiatives, and other government agencies such as NASA.
Montgomery County, home to Maxwell Air Force Base and the prestigious Air University, is second with more than 10,000 personnel; followed by Dale County, which is home to Fort Novosel and the Army’s aviation program that includes its helicopter training school.
Alabama ranked 9th in the nation regarding the economic impact of defense spending, as DOD contracts created 4.8 percent of the state’s total GDP.
Lockheed Martin’s growing Alabama profile
Lockheed Martin’s presence in Alabama grew at a fast pace during fiscal year 2023 and looks to continue that trend thanks to several diverse programs. They included the December introduction of F-35 fighter jets to Montgomery with the Alabama Air National Guard’s 187th fighter wing, based at Dannelly Field.
The company’s F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter is the Department of Defense’s most expensive weapon system program. DOD estimates it will cost nearly $1.7 trillion to buy, operate and sustain the aircraft and systems over its lifetime. A single aircraft can cost more than $80 million when fully operational.
That program will bring a wide variety of support services with it, providing a major economic impact for Alabama’s River Region in the years to come as the 187th adds more F-35s until it reaches almost two dozen of the advanced aircraft.
Lockheed Martin’s facility in Troy is a manufacturing, final assembly, test and storage operation for the company’s missile programs, sitting on 4,000 acres of land with 52 buildings.
It employs nearly 600 workers who support final assembly of missiles that include the Javelin, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile, the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile and air-to-ground missiles. Since it was first established, nearly 190,000 missiles have been produced at the site.
NATO officials visit a Lockheed Martin facility in Alabama. (Courtesy photo)
Lockheed Martin’s facility in Courtland is on the forefront of development with hypersonic technologies, including the Hypersonic Strike Weapon. In its rapidly growing Huntsville market, the company leads development of the Next Generation Interceptor, which is a missile defense system being designed to serve as a first line of defense against missile attacks.
Even the company’s smaller operation in Anniston plays a significant role, listed as a developer of search and navigation equipment and garnering an annual revenue of $10-20 million.
The bigger picture
Shipbuilder Austal USA, based in Mobile, was the top Alabama defense contractor in the previous year’s report, and that company is poised to remain among the state’s defense leaders after recently joining the Navy in announcing several new programs. Most significant is Austal’s contracts lifting it in the production of submarine modules to help grow the Navy’s submarine fleet.
Shipbuilder Austal USA continues to garner new DOD contracts in Mobile.
Navy and Coast Guard spending in the Mobile region is likely to see a steep increase in 2024 and beyond as the result of moves with Austal, Alabama Shipyard and other companies in the region. Improvements to the Port of Mobile also point to steady growth of the region’s importance to U.S. defense needs.
Although Navy interests in Mobile and the prominent Air Force leadership impact in Montgomery are significant, the Army remains by far the biggest defense spender in Alabama.
Its space and missile defense programs in Huntsville and its aviation programs at Fort Novosel accounts for 44 percent of overall defense spending in Alabama, and the Army accounts for 71 percent of defense personnel serving in the state.
Construction, service, supplies and equipment make up most of the types of contracts the DOD invested in Alabama, but also of note is that 24 percent of its spending in the state was tied to research and development.
FY 2023 Overview
The DOD’s budget authority increased from $795.7 billion in FY 2022 to $874.3 billion in FY 2023.
DOD contract obligations, grant obligations and payroll spending in all 50 states and the District of Columbia totaled $609 billion, approximately $1,819 per U.S. resident and 2.2 percent of the country’s GDP.
Contracts for various products and services totaled $431 billion, thus comprising the majority of the spending, while DOD personnel payroll accounted for $167 billion, and DOD grant spending accounted for $10.4 billion.
Troy Turner is the editor and senior consultant for AlaDefense.com. He can be contacted at [email protected].
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