National Missile Defense Contractors

National Missile Defense Contractors in the United States have been actively involved in Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) since the 1980s. However, the project did not officially begin until 1998 "with a $1.6 billion dollar initial contract to Boeing." [1]

Boeing: Prime Contractor

"Boeing as the prime-contractor is responsible for the development, test, and integration of all the GMD elements, including the Ground-based Interceptor, X-Band Radar Prototype, Fire Control & Communications systems, Upgraded Early Warning Radars and interfaces to the Defense Support Program. Major team members include Raytheon Company (kill vehicle, radars); Northrop Grumman Mission Systems (BMC2); Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company (booster vehicles); Orbital Sciences Corporation (booster vehicles); Bechtel (facilities design and construction); and Teledyne Brown Engineering (Integrated Systems Testing Capabilities and technical services)." [2]

Boeing Subcontractors

Boeing subcontractors include "Orbital Sciences Corporation, Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon. Boeing is in charge of Ground Based Interceptor (GBI) development, and the project is currently [2004/2005] undergoing extensive ground and flight tests. As currently envisioned, each GBI missile will consist of two main components: a three-stage booster rocket and the Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV).

The Missile Defense Agency "currently has two separate booster rockets in the works: Orbital Sciences Corporation is building the Orbital Boost Vehicle (OBV), while Lockheed Martin is designing the Boost Vehicle Plus (BV-Plus). ... On top of either the OBV or the BV-Plus will sit Raytheon’s Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle. The EKV is designed to track and destroy ballistic missiles outside the Earth’s atmosphere, hence its 'exoatmospheric' nature. Each kill vehicle costs between $20 and $25 million and will include a range of sophisticated devices: infrared sensors, an internal navigational system, antennas, thruster engines, a cryogenic cooling system, and a small computer, all designed to maximize the probability of a successful 'kill.' Yet even with all its components, the entire EKV will fit comfortably on a kitchen table. It is only 55 inches long, 24 inches in diameter, and weighs 140 pounds." [3]

Raytheon is the "interceptor lead for the Kinetic Energy Interceptor program ... [and] is also providing the Sea-Based X-band radar and Upgraded Early Warning Radar for the GMD segment, the Space Tracking and Surveillance System payload, the Ballistic Missile Defense System radar, and THAAD (Theater High Altitude Area Defense) radar and battle management software.

"Raytheon is leading the SM-3 [STANDARD Missile-3] integrated team effort, supported by Aerojet, the Boeing Company and Alliant Techsystems, which are providing major subsystems." [4]

Kinetic Energy Subcontractors

According to Northrop Grumman's website, accessed May 31, 2005, the following are subcontractors for the Kinetic Energy Interceptor: [5]

• Northrop Grumman
• Raytheon
• Orbital Sciences Corporation
• Aerojet [6]
• ATK [7]
• Ball Aerospace & Technologies [8]
• Booz Allen & Hamilton Inc.
• Davidson Technologies Inc. [9]
• IET (Information Extraction & Transport Inc.)
• Photon Research Associates (Raytheon [10])
• Rockwell Collins [11]
• Science Applications International Corporation
• Schafer Corporation [12]
• SEI (Systems & Electronics Inc. [13])
• 3D Research Corporation [14]

Top Contract Categories - Missiles

August 1, 2001: DoD Missiles

• Total Purchases: $3,624,658,000

1. Lockheed Martin
2. Raytheon
3. Northrop Grumman
4. General Dynamics
5. Motorola Inc.
6. Boeing
7. L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc.
8. Astronautics Corporation of America
9. Electro Design Manufacturing
10. Honeywell
11. Saudi Logistics and Technical Support (SALTS [15])
12. Carlyle Group
13. Sequa Corporation
14. Marvin Group
15. Daimler-Chrysler
16. OMI Corporation
17. Harris Corporation
18. Humboldt Trading Corporation
19. ITT Industries Inc.
20. Telos Corporation

August 1, 2001: Ballistic Missile Defense Program

• Total Purchases: $1,969,014,000

1. Boeing
2. Computer Sciences Corporation
3. TRW Inc.
4. L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc.
5. METAVEC Corp.
6. COLSA Corporation
7. Sparta Inc.
8. Teledyne Technologies Inc.
9. Science Applications International Corporation
10. Johns Hopkins University
11. Raytheon
12. Government of Great Britain
13. Utah State University
14. Aeromet Inc.
15. Vanguard Research Inc.

Related SourceWatch Resources

• defense contractors
• DynCorp
• federal contractors
• Halliburton
• Homeland Security contractors
• Military-industrial complex
• nuclear weapons
• Prison-industrial complex
• Private Military Corporations
• Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) a.k.a. "Star Wars"
• war profiteering
• weaponization of space

External links

Websites

• CorpWatch: War Profiteers.
• Defense-Aerospace.com website; current news links.
• Missile Defense Agency current news links.
• "Northrop Grumman's Role in Missile Defense," NorthropGrumman.com.
• "GMD Boost Vehicle," Oribital Sciences Corporation website.
• "Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) and Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV)," Raytheon website.

Articles & Commentary

• Ken Silverstein, "Huntsville's Missile Payload," Mother Jones, July/August 2001.
• "The Top Contract Categories - Missiles," GovExec.com, August 1, 2001.
• "Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI)," Federation of American Scientists; articles current to 2002.
• William D. Hartung, "Bush's $396 Billion Military Budget: 'Leave No Defense Contractor Behind'," Common Dreams, February 6, 2002.
• "Missile Defense: Events Related to Contractor Selection for the Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle," General Accounting Office, January 27, 2003.
• "SM-3 INITIAL DEPLOYMENT CEREMONY: Raytheon delivers deployment STANDARD Missile-3 rounds to Missile Defense Agency," raytheon.com, October 22, 2004: "SM-3 is a key element of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System and builds on the existing fleet of Aegis cruisers and destroyers."