Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman all recently received contracts to develop a laser weapon for US fighter jets.
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These are the 20 defense companies donating the most money to American politicians
America's largest defense firms spread their cash around.
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The three defense companies have also donated more money in the 2018 election cycle than any other company in the industry, according to a new analysis from the Center for Responsible Politics, which draws on the Federal Election Commission's latest political-candidate-contribution report.
The Center for Responsive Politics' numbers include all donor contributions to outside groups and political action committees, as well as individuals giving over $200.
In many cases, it notes, donations don't come from the firms themselves but rather from their PACs, employees or owners, or those individuals' immediate families.
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Here's what they found.
20. DynCorp International.
Contributions: $71,560.
DynCorp International is a Virginia-based company that provides all kinds of training, intelligence, and aviation services for the military, including maintenance for the AH-64 Apache program.
Thus far in the election cycle, 52.1% of DynCorp's contributions have gone to Democrats, and some of the largestrecipients in Congress have been Democratic Rep. Anthony Brown and Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich.
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Dyncorp has also been accused of bilking the federal government out of millions of dollars between 2004 and 2008 for their work in the Iraq War.
Dyncorp didn't donate any money to candidates in the election cycles immediately before and after the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. Its first contributions came in the 2006 election cycle and increased in 2008.
19. Cobham Management Services.
Contributions: $78,500.
Cobham Management Services is a British company that manufactures a variety of technology for the military and even the refueling system for the KC-46.
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18. Cubic Corp.
Contributions: .
California-based Cubic Corp. provides a lot of information technology to the US military, including the Cubic P5 Combat Training System for the F-35 fighter jet.
Thus far, 80% of its contributions have gone to Republicans, and some of its largestrecipients have been Republican Reps. Duncan Hunter and Ken Calvert, both of California.
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17. Leonardo DRS.
Contributions: $106,475.
Based in Virginia, Leonardo DRS is a technology company that makes the T-100Integrated Training System for the US Air Force's T-X program.
16. Sierra Nevada Corp.
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Contributions: $
Based in Nevada, Sierra Nevada Corp. is another technology company, and it provides the integrated airborne systems for the C-130.
Thus far, 85% of its contributions have gone to Republicans. Some of the largestrecipients have been Republican Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen and Dutch Ruppersberger.
15. General Electric.
Contributions: $183,000.
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General Electric is a huge US conglomerate that makes everything from toasters to oil and gas to the X-47B unmanned aerial vehicle seen above. It also owns a 49% interest in NBCUniversal.
It has thus far donated 51.4% of its cash to Democrats, making it one of only
14. SAIC.
13. L3 Technologies.
Contributions: $
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Based in New York, L3 Technologies provides communication and electronic systems for the military and recently received a contract to support the
Thus far, 66.4.% of its contributions have gone to Republicans, and some of the largestrecipients have been Republican Reps. Ken Calvert and John Lee Ratcliffe and Democratic Sen. Pete Visclosky.
12. Leidos Inc.
Contributions: $2.
Leidos Inc. is a Virginia-based technology company that, among other things, provides command-and-control software and planning systems for the military and intelligence community.
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11. Honeywell International.
Contributions: $283,759.
Based in New Jersey, Honeywell International invents and manufactures a lot of technology, including the T-55
In the 2016 election cycle, Honewell International gave
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10. Huntington Ingalls Industries.
Contributions: $389,035.
Virginia-based Huntington Ingalls Industries designs and builds Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and touts itself as America's largest shipbuilding company.
9. BAE Systems.
Contributions:
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BAE Systems is a British company that designs and manufactures combat ships and aircraft, among other things, and even designed a railgun prototype for the US Navy.
Thus far in the 2018 election cycle, 60.8% of its contributions have gone to Republicans.
In the 2016 election cycle, its largest recipients were Republican Sen. John McCain, Hillary Clinton, and Democratic Rep. Pete Visclosky.
8. Orbital ATK.
Contributions: $401,874.
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Orbital ATK is based in Virginia and designs and builds all sorts of air, land, and sea weapons, including the Javelin antitank missile system.
7. United Technologies.
Contributions:
Based in Connecticut, United Technologies owns Pratt & Whitney, which makes a lot of combat-aircraft engines, including the propulsion system for the F-35 Lightning II.
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6. Harris Corp.
Contributions:
5. Raytheon Co.
Contributions: $795,512.
Based in New Jersey, Raytheon Co. makes everything from command-and-control systems to missile-defense systems and precision weapons, like the TOW missile system seen above.
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4. General Dynamics.
Contributions: $821,144.
Virginia-based General Dynamics makes a variety of combat aircraft, land vehicles, and ships, including the Littoral Combat Ship seen above.
3. Boeing Co.
Contributions: $1,159,645.
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Based in Chicago, Boeing designs all kinds of private and military aircraft, including the F/A-18 Hornet seen above.
2. Lockheed Martin.
Contributions: $1,342,248.
In 2016, Maryland-based Lockheed Martin received $43.4 billion in federal contracts, the most of any US defense contractor. It manufactures all kinds of combat aircraft, naval systems, missiles, unmanned systems, and more. It was also recently contracted to develop a laser for US fighter jets.
In the 2016 election cycle, it donated to presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Jeb Bush, Jill Stein, Carly Fiorina, Gary Johnson, Mike Huckabee, John Kasich, and Lawrence Lessig.
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1. Northrop Grumman.
Contributions: $1,439,162.
Based in Virginia, Northrop Grumman makes all kinds of manned and unmanned combat aircraft, among many other things, and is developing the B-21 Raider for the US Air Force.
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