Although federal contract spending slipped in 2021 to $645.5 billion from $686.1 billion in 2020, spending remains high compared to the years preceding 2020, and the industry is still booming — particularly in specific fields and with specific contractors. Learn who’s still spending significant money on federal contracting in this overview of the top 20 federal government contractors.
#1. Boeing Co.
Boeing, an industry leader in the design, manufacture, and sale of airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, missiles, and telecommunications equipment worldwide, has been one of the top federal contractors for decades.
In 2021, the company received a contract from the U.S. Department of Defense for $23.8 billion for services to a fleet of C-17 Globemaster III aircraft over 10 years.
More recently, in March 2022, Boeing was awarded a $498.3 billion contract for the production and delivery of the Harpoon Coastal Defense System Launch System to support the government of Taiwan.
#2. Lockheed Martin Corp.
As a longstanding defense contract leader, half of Lockheed Martin’s annual sales are to the U.S. Department of Defense. In 2020, Lockheed Martin had $75.8 billion worth of federal contract obligations. In 2021, the company was awarded a $447,230,778 fixed-price contract to produce and deliver 12 MH-60R aircraft to the government of the Republic of Korea.
More recently, in 2022, Lockheed Martin was awarded a $1.42 billion contract for the C-130J mission sustainment support effort.
#3. Raytheon Technologies Corp.
In 2021, the U.S. Air Force awarded Raytheon Technologies Corporation a $2 billion contract to develop and make a nuclear-armed missile. The missile is expected to be complete in 2027.
The company was awarded another multibillion-dollar contract in April 2022 by the U.S. Navy. The contract, worth up to $3.16 billion, is for Raytheon to provide radars for up to 31 ships over the next five years.
In fiscal year 2020, Raytheon Technologies had $28.1 billion in federal contract obligations.
#4. General Dynamics Corp.
Aerospace and defense company General Dynamics was considered the fifth-largest defense contractor in the U.S. in 2019. But recent large government contracts have pushed them up the list, including the 2022 ground control and operations contract issued by the Space Development Agency in 2022. This contract is worth $324 million and is intended to allow General Dynamics to establish the ground operations and integration for Tranche 1 of the Space Development Agency’s National Defense Space Architecture.
In fiscal year 2020, General Dynamics had $25.6 billion in federal contract obligations.
#5. Northrop Grumman Corp.
Alabama-based defense manufacturer Northrop Grumman was awarded a $1.4 billion contract from the U.S. Army in 2021. The funds are to have the company produce an advanced wartime control system, which Northrop Grumman has dubbed the “Integrated Battle Command System.” The integrated hardware and software product works to locate, track, and defeat air and missile threats. It’s expected to take five years to complete.
In fiscal year 2020, Northrop Grumman had $14.7 billion in federal contract obligations.
#6. McKesson Corp.
McKesson distributes pharmaceuticals and provides health IT, medical supplies, and care management tools. The company delivers one-third of all pharmaceuticals used across North America. In 2019, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced a contract extension that would continue McKesson’s role as the prime pharmaceutical supplier for the VA. The agreement went into effect in 2020 and designated McKesson as the supplier for all of the VA’s medical centers and outpatient clinics as well as the agency’s mail-in pharmacies.
McKesson is the largest non-defense vendor that serves the VA, Department of Defense, and other government agencies.
In fiscal year 2020, McKesson had $10 billion in federal contract obligations.
#7. Leidos Holdings Inc.
Defense, aviation, IT, and biomedical research company Leidos Holdings provides scientific, engineering, systems integration, and technical services to government agencies and the private sector. In 2022, Leidos was awarded a $22 million contract for the Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) Mission Planning Aids Rev. A for the U.S. Navy. The contract provides Navy carrier strike group staff and units that facilitate collaborative planning.
In fiscal year 2020, Leidos Holdings had $9.1 billion in federal contract obligations.
#8. General Atomics
In March 2022, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection awarded a General Atomics business unit with a potential $585.04 million contract to help the agency operate and maintain unmanned aircraft systems. Under the contract, General Atomics will also provide replacement aircraft, parts, and spares to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
#9. Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc.
In 2021, the United States Navy awarded Huntington Ingalls Industries, the nation’s largest military shipbuilding company, with a $273 million contract to support the Navy’s carrier engineering maintenance assist team as well as surface engineering maintenance.
Later in 2021, the company landed a $346 million contract to help U.S. Africa Command.
In fiscal year 2020, Huntington had $8 billion in federal contract obligations.
#10. Humana
In 2021, the Defense Health Agency awarded a $121.8 million modification to a previously awarded contract to Humana Government Business. The modification implements changes to the Military Health System specifically, replacing TRICARE Extra and TRICARE Standard health programs with TRICARE Select.
In fiscal year 2020, Humana had $6.9 billion in federal contract obligations.
#11. Honeywell International Inc.
In 2021, Honeywell International was awarded a $21.7 million contract spanning five years for the repair of five aircraft parts for the FA-18, EA-18, and AV-8 weapon systems.
Later in 2021, Honeywell was granted a $9.3 million fixed-price delivery order under a previous ordering agreement. This delivery order is for the procurement of the embedded Global Position System/Inertial Navigation Systems to support the F/A-18 aircraft.
In fiscal year 2020, Honeywell had $6.6 billion in federal contract obligations.
#12. BAE Systems plc
The largest defense contractor in Europe, BAE Systems, was awarded a $78.4 million fixed-price modification to a prior contract in 2021 for the procurement of radio frequency countermeasures to support the Navy, Air Force, and Foreign Military Sales customers.
In fiscal year 2020, BAE Systems had $6.6 billion in federal contract obligations.
#13. Booz Allen Hamilton
Fortune 500 firm Booz Allen Hamilton won a $674 million contract with the Department of Defense in 2021 to maintain and support the growth of the DOD’s Advana data analytics platform.
More recently, Booz Allen Hamilton was awarded a $622 million contract in 2022 to help manage the security and privacy of IT processes across NASA.
In fiscal year 2020, Booz Allen Hamilton had $5.5 billion in federal contract obligations.
#14. General Electric Company
In January 2022, General Electric was awarded a $12 million contract to maintain and overhaul the UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter.
In fiscal year 2020, GE had $4.9 billion in federal contract obligations.
#15. Rolls Royce
In 2021, Rolls Royce won a potential 17-year, $2.6 billion contract to provide replacement engines for the Air Force’s fleet of B-52H Stratofortress bombers.
As part of the agreement, Rolls-Royce is to provide 608 F130 engines, support equipment, spare engines, and commercial engineering data.
#16. AECOM
In 2022, AECOM Technical Services was awarded a $28.4 million contract modification for comprehensive long-term environmental action at various U.S. Navy sites. This contract modification is an extension of a previous contract and brings the total value of the contract to nearly $40 million. Some of the tasks included in the contract include additional support for drinking water sampling and evaluation, National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System sampling, and surface soil sampling.
In fiscal year 2020, AECOM had $3.9 billion in federal contract obligations.
#17. L3Harris Technologies
In 2021, defense contractor L3Harris Technologies secured a federal contract for $3.3 billion to manufacture radio systems and communications equipment for the U.S. Army. L3Harris will also provide spares, ancillary items, and support services to the Army as part of the contract.
The Army also placed a $57 million order for the company’s two-channel Falcon IV handheld radios.
#18. Amentum Services Inc.
In March 2022, Amentum received a $99.94 million contract from the Navy to provide maintenance and logistics support services for aircraft at the Naval Air Warfare Center in Maryland. Contract work will also take place in Nevada through September 2023.
In May 2022, Amentum was awarded a $136,667,022 modification for contractor logistics support for government-owned fixed-wing fleets that perform transport aircraft missions.
#19. Atlantic Diving Supply Inc.
In 2021, the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) awarded equipment vendor Atlantic Diving Supply a five-year, $100 million contract to deliver patient monitoring technology, accessories, and training support to military and federal civilian customers.
Later that year, the company won a $91.6 million contract also from the DLA for services in support of multiple weapon systems programs for the Air Force, Army, Navy, and Marine Corps.
In fiscal year 2020, Atlantic Diving Supply had $3.1 billion in federal contract obligations.
#20. Fluor Marine Propulsion LLC
In 2021, the U.S. Navy awarded Fluor Marine Propulsion with a one-year contract extension for $1.16 billion. The contract includes naval nuclear propulsion work at Navy Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) sites in three states.
In fiscal year 2020, Fluor Marine Propulsion had $3.1 billion in federal contract obligations.
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