By Troy Turner
Alabama’s military and defense industry contributions to the nation’s security in Fiscal Year 2024 hit new heights in attracting defense spending, reaching an intake of nearly $17 billion and moving Alabama to ninth among the 50 states and District of Columbia in the most recent state-by-state review.
The analysis was conducted between March-September 2025, and though not yet publicly promoted, AlaDefense.com reviewed an abridged version of the initial report and documents associated with it that break down categories in how the money was spent in each state.
Alabama is home to multiple major military installations and top defense contractors critical to the nation’s overall defense mission.
Its national ranking in the FY2024 analysis is up five spots from 14th in the previous FY2023 report, and Alabama continues to trend upward in 2025 with U.S. Space Command beginning the move of its headquarters to Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, more contracts for building and servicing ships in Mobile, high-tech F-35 jets based in Montgomery and new drone warfare training initiated at Fort Rucker.
Defense spending accounted for 5.3 percent of Alabama’s FY2024 GDP.
Alabama’s top defense contractors
Shipbuilder Austal USA, headquartered in Mobile, led Alabama’s own Top 10 list of contractors receiving defense funds, garnering more than $1 billion and with the promise of earning more in 2025 as it continues to rake in U.S. Navy and Coast Guard contracts for new surface ships and submarine modules.
Industry giants Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin are next on the list, both providing a significant presence in Huntsville with research, development and production in space and missile defense technology.
Lockheed Martin also has missile assembly plants in Courtland and Troy, and its F-35s are flown by Alabama Air National Guard’s 187th fighter wing.
Alabama’s highest-earning defense contractors in FY2024:
| Austal | $1,083,633,020 |
| Northrop Grumman | $850,677,135 |
| Lockheed Martin | $684,529,146 |
| Dell | $503,371,047 |
| SAIC | $454,368,898 |
| Defense Systems and Solutions | $452,830,268 |
| BAE Systems | $340,219,240 |
| Boeing | $310,307,210 |
| Torch Technologies | $285,044,064 |
| KBR | $271,158,580 |
Military personnel
Some 50,294 personnel performed military or defense-related service in Alabama during FY2024.
Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery is, in addition to aviation missions, home to various educational entities for the Air Force and Space Force, and serves as the longtime home to the prestigious Air University, which serves all military branches and various federal agencies.
The Army, however, is by far the leading military service with personnel numbers in Alabama. Fort Rucker is home to Army aviation, and Huntsville has a large Army presence with several commands located inside Redstone Arsenal, including a significant presence with its Space and Missile Defense Command.
Alongside defense spending, additional federal government spending in Huntsville includes support of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and a thriving commercial space research and development community.
Military spending on personnel payroll in Alabama amounted to almost $3.8 billion in FY2024.
Alabama military personnel by the numbers:
| Active Duty | 7,659 | 15.2% | |
| Civilian | 24,778 | 49.3% | |
| National Guard | 11,828 | 23.5% | |
| Reserve | 6,029 | 12.0% |
| Air Force | 8,863 | 17.7% | |
| Army | 35,511 | 70.8% | |
| Navy/Marines | 1,379 | 2.7% | |
| Other Defense | 4,410 | 8.8% |
County by county
Although led by Madison County (Huntsville), Mobile and Montgomery counties, others in the state also saw hefty contributions to their economy via defense spending.
Calhoun County, for example, is home to Army Anniston Depot; Dale County is home to Fort Rucker; Shelby and Jefferson counties (Birmingham) play host to a large portion of Alabama National Guard’s many operations that range from the 20th Special Forces Group to the 117th Air Refueling Wing.
Alabama’s Top 10 counties in attracting defense dollars:
| Madison | $8,302,240,578 | |
| Mobile | $1,246,579,347 | |
| Montgomery | $1,119,095,157 | |
| Dale | $1,018,912,921 | |
| Calhoun | $476,246,146 | |
| Baldwin | $197,499,547 | |
| Talladega | $86,805,336 | |
| Jefferson | $84,262,610 | |
| Coffee | $61,736,535 | |
| Shelby | $60,116,885 |
National leaders
Virginia, California and Texas led the nation in attracting defense spending, and by a large margin.
For example, Alabama’s hefty $17 billion defense sector was dwarfed by Virginia, which topped the ranking with more than $76 billion.
| State | Rank FY2024 | Spent in State FY2024 |
| Virginia | 1 | $76,185,018,193 |
| California | 2 | $63,249,351,655 |
| Texas | 3 | $47,354,157,365 |
| Florida | 4 | $34,767,692,115 |
| Maryland | 5 | $29,716,986,449 |
| Pennsylvania | 6 | $24,281,107,675 |
| Connecticut | 7 | $19,746,243,144 |
| Arizona | 8 | $17,140,014,709 |
| Alabama | 9 | $16,968,602,953 |
The report was produced by the Department of Defense’s Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation, which partnered with the Library of Congress’s Federal Research Division.
“This report presents the results of a state-by-state analysis of U.S. Department of Defense contract, grant, and personnel spending during fiscal year (FY) 2024,” its introduction states. “State and local officials may use this information to assess a region’s dependence on defense spending and to target assistance to support more resilient communities and companies.”
Troy Turner is the editor and senior consultant for AlaDefense.com. He can be reached at [email protected]. His bio can be found here.
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