Six of the top defense firms in a new top-100 list have San Diego connections, including Lockheed Martin – which topped the list with $40.5 billion in defense-related revenue – BAE and General Dynamics.

The San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation estimates that the defense sector contributes $20.6 billion to the local economy, which is bolstered by the long-time presence of Navy and Marine outposts throughout the county.

The key defense firms in the region, according to the EDC, are Lockheed Martin, BAE, General Atomics, UTC Aerospace Systems, Raytheon, ViaSat, Cubic, General Dynamics/NASSCO, Northrop Grumman, SAIC and L-3 Communications.

U.S._Navy_Imagery_-_USS_Fort_Worth
USS Fort Worth beneath the San Diego-Coronado Bridge. A Lockheed Martin team helped design and build the littoral combat ship. Photo credit: U.S. Navy via Flickr.

Defense News ranked the top 100 defense firms in terms of revenue derived from defense-related deals using 2013 revenue. Several of the firms with local connections were ranked, including six in the top 15:

  • Lockheed Martin made $40.5 billion on defense. That’s nearly 90 percent of the company’s total revenue.
  • BAE, at number 3, made $28 billion on defense, 94 percent of company revenue.
  • Raytheon, at number 4, made $22 billion on defense, 93 percent of company revenue.
  • Northrop Grumman, at number 5, made $19.5 billion on defense, 79 percent of company revenue.
  • General Dynamics, at number 6, made $18.8 billion on defense, 60 percent of company revenue.
  • L-3 Communications, at number 11, made $10.3 billion on defense, 82 percent of company revenue.

Others ranked lower were:

  • SAIC, at number 31, made $2.8 billion on defense, 70 percent of company revenue.
  • Cubic, at number 76, made $844 million on defense, 62 percent of company revenue.
  • ViaSat, at number 93, made $565 million on defense, 42 percent of company revenue.

Some of the firms, though they remained top ranked, showed declines in defense revenues in 2013, including Lockheed, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics and SAIC. SAIC took the biggest hit at 65 percent and fell far on the list, compared to 2013, when the company was number 12.

The contractors have worked on a number of high-profile projects, including Lockheed’s contract with the Navy to produce a new class of vessel, littoral combat ships – like the USS Forth Worth in the video above – and Northrop Grumman’s development of unmanned vehicles, or drones.