How Much Federal Money Goes to Major Defense Contractors?

The federal government commits tens of billions of dollars each year to private defense companies.

But that money is not distributed evenly.

Paper Trail examined the latest tracked 12-month federal-obligation totals for five major defense contractors: Boeing Defense, RTX Corporation, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics and L3Harris Technologies.

Together, their records illustrate the enormous scale of the federal government's relationship with a relatively small group of private companies.

Boeing Defense: $29.5 billion

Among these five companies, Boeing Defense recorded approximately $29.5 billion in federal obligations during its latest tracked 12-month period.

About $28.1 billion — 95.2% — came from the Department of Defense.

Boeing's federal work includes military aircraft, weapons, satellites and other aerospace and defense systems.

The figure represents federal obligations, or government commitments to spend money. It does not represent Boeing's profit or necessarily the amount of cash the company received during the period.

RTX Corporation: $24.1 billion

RTX Corporation recorded approximately $24.1 billion in federal obligations during its latest tracked period.

The Department of Defense accounted for approximately $22.9 billion, or 95.3%, of those obligations.

RTX's defense businesses supply missile systems, aircraft technology, sensors, electronics and other equipment to the federal government.

Northrop Grumman: $12.5 billion

Northrop Grumman recorded approximately $12.5 billion in federal obligations during its latest tracked 12-month period.

The Department of Defense accounted for approximately $11.1 billion, or 88.9%, while NASA accounted for another $1.34 billion.

Northrop Grumman's federal work includes military aircraft, strategic weapons, missile systems, satellites and other space technology.

General Dynamics: $10.6 billion

General Dynamics recorded approximately $10.6 billion in federal obligations during its latest tracked period.

Unlike several of the other contractors in this comparison, its federal obligations were somewhat less concentrated in the Pentagon.

The Department of Defense accounted for approximately $7.34 billion, or 69.1%, of the total.

Other major sources included the Department of Health and Human Services, General Services Administration, Department of State and Department of Homeland Security.

General Dynamics' businesses include submarines, combat vehicles, information technology and government services.

L3Harris Technologies: $6.9 billion

L3Harris Technologies recorded approximately $6.9 billion in federal obligations during its latest tracked period.

Approximately $4.5 billion, or 65.8%, came from the Department of Defense.

The company specializes in military communications, sensors, electronic warfare, intelligence systems and space technology.

More than $80 billion across five companies

Added together, the latest tracked totals for these five companies amount to approximately $83.6 billion in federal obligations.

That combined figure should be interpreted carefully. Each company's Paper Trail profile uses its latest rolling 12-month period, and the exact start and end dates currently differ by several days between companies.

The sum therefore provides a sense of scale rather than a precisely synchronized one-year industry total.

It also does not represent $83.6 billion in corporate profit.

An obligation is a legal commitment by the federal government to spend money. Actual payments can occur later as companies perform work under their awards.

The Pentagon dominates — but not equally

One pattern is particularly clear across the records: the Department of Defense is the dominant source of federal obligations for these companies.

For Boeing Defense and RTX, more than 95% of tracked obligations came from the Pentagon.

For Northrop Grumman, the share was approximately 89%.

General Dynamics and L3Harris were somewhat more diversified across federal agencies, although the Department of Defense remained their largest source of tracked obligations.

Those differences matter because the phrase “defense contractor” can obscure how differently companies interact with the federal government.

Some are overwhelmingly dependent on Pentagon awards. Others also receive substantial obligations from civilian agencies.

Following the money beyond the total

The headline numbers answer one question:

How much federal money is being committed to these companies?

They do not answer what the government purchased, which programs received the money, which individual awards drove the totals, or how those companies interact with policymakers.

Those questions require following the records further.

Paper Trail connects organization profiles to the agencies funding them, underlying federal awards, lobbying disclosures, affiliated PACs, politicians and other documented relationships.

The result is a trail that begins with a number — and lets readers keep following it.