By Troy Turner
Alabama’s leading defense contractor in fiscal year 2022 Department of Defense spending isn’t either of the longtime industry giants Northrop Grumman, Boeing or Lockheed Martin, but a company that wasn’t even on the state’s Top 10 list just two years ago.
International shipbuilder Austal, or specifically its Austal USA shipyard located in Mobile, garnered more than $748 million in DOD contracts during fiscal year 2022, according to the Defense Department’s spending report released Tuesday (Sept. 26, 2023).
The report provides a state-by-state breakdown of DOD’s spending in each state.
Alabama ranks 12th among the states receiving the most funding from defense contracts, totaling a whopping $14 billion and providing salaries for almost 50,000 personnel in Alabama tied to defense work for the U.S. military.
The personnel count includes active military and civilian defense workers in locations such as Maxwell Air Force Base and the Air War College in Montgomery, the Army’s aviation headquarters and post at Fort Novosel (formerly Fort Rucker) in Dale County, the Anniston Army Depot, Navy and Coast Guard ties in Mobile, Air National Guard units in Birmingham and Montgomery, and a major foothold on space and missile defense operations headquartered throughout Huntsville.
Defense spending provides more than a $3.5 billion payroll in Alabama, according to the DOD report.
The $14 billion of overall defense spending in Alabama accounts for 5 percent of the state’s entire GDP.
Austal’s shipyard in Mobile was established in 1999 and serves as the shipbuilder’s center of manufacturing for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) and Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF) programs for the U.S. Navy.
Austal USA continues to grow, having recently received an order for the manufacture and outfitting of three electronic deck modules for the Virginia-class submarine program, and a contract possibly worth more than $93 million for the detail design and construction of three Landing Craft Utility (LCU) 1700 class craft. The contract also includes options for nine additional craft and associated support efforts.
Austal was not on Alabama’s Top 10 list of defense contractors in fiscal year 2020, and appeared at No. 9 on the 2021 list. The 2022 Top 10 list includes:
1. Austal $748.1 million
2. Northrop Grumman $692.6 million
3. Boeing $657.5 million
4. M1 Support Services $539.4 million
5. Torch Technologies $504.8 million
6. SAIC $500.4 million
7. Lockheed Martin $462.6 million
8. Parsons Corp. $274.9 million
9. Defense Systems and Solutions $249.0 million
10. Radiance Technologies, Inc. $219.6 million
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–To see the entire DOD FY2022 report, go to: https://oldcc.gov/dsbs-fy2022
–To see more stories on military and defense industry news in Alabama, go to https://aladefense.com/
–Troy Turner is the editor and senior consultant for AlaDefense.com and can be reached at [email protected]
