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DEFENSE
- Business History of
Contractors
December 16, 1897 - A demonstration was given on the
Patapsco River of the Argonaut, the first U.S. submarine fitted with an
internal combustion engine; invented by Simon Lake, built in 1897 by the
Columbian Iron Works and Dry Dock Company of Baltimore, Maryland; first
submarine to salvage sunken objects of value.
March 17, 1898 - John Holland demonstrated the first
practical submarine off Staten Island in New York for 100 minutes; -not
the first underwater boat, credited as the first practical one.
April 22, 1915 - Modern chemical weapons were first
used in a war as German troops released chlorine gas from several metal
cylinders on the front lines at Ypres, Belgium during WW I; yellow-green
gas blown by wind over the French trenches, painfully killed 5000
soldiers via suffocation, constriction of the chest, tightness in the
throat, edema of the lungs.
1922 - MIT professor Vannevar Bush (32) and college
roommate Laurence K. Marshall (33) founded American Appliance Co.;
teamed with inventor Charles G. Smith to produce a home refrigerator
(invented by Smith) based on artificial coolants; never developed;
produced earlier Smith invention, gaseous rectifier, S-tube, permits
radios, for first time, to be plugged into wall sockets for power
instead of depending on costly, short-lived A and B batteries;
1925 - introduced under Raytheon name; end of 1926
- generated more than $1 million in sales.
1930 - Leroy Grumman,
Jake Swirbul, Bill Schwendler, E. Clint Towl and Ed Poor started Grumman Aeronautical Engineering Company, in
abandoned auto garage; 1931 - introduced XFF-1, first Navy
fighter with retractable landing gear, fully enclosed cockpit;
1943 - first aircraft company to receive Navy "E" flag for
production efficiency; 1944 - introduced F6F Hellcat
(Hellcat pilots account for 55 percent of all enemy aircraft destroyed
by Navy and Marines in World War II); 1948 - Leroy Grumman
received Presidential Medal of Merit for wartime production; 1967
- A-6 Intruder, world's only all-weather attack bomber, used by Navy and
Marine Corps squadrons in Vietnam; 1969 - Apollo Lunar
Module carried man to surface of moon; 1994 - acquired by
Northrop Corporation.
1934 - Charles Litton Sr., radio
enthusiast and engineering student at Stanford University, started
Litton Industries with device to mass-produce radio tubes; 1953
- Charles Bates "Tex" Thornton, Roy L. Ash, formerly of Hughes Aircraft,
founded Electro Dynamics Corporation; acquired Litton's small microwave
tube company; changed company name to Litton Industries; 1980
- $4 billion in sales;
1981 - major supplier of night vision goggles to U.S. Army
, law enforcement agencies; 1983 - produced 20,000th
inertial navigation system, milestone in aviation history; created first
laser radar used in space (part of U.S. Department of Defense's
Strategic Defense Initiative); 1990s -
split into separate military, commercial companies: Litton
Industries, Western Atlas Inc. (oilfield services, business and
automated assembly line operations); April 2001 - acquired
by Northrop Grumman Corporation for $3.6 billion dollars.
April 2, 1935 - Sir Watson-Watt received a patent
for RADAR.
July 2, 1940 - Enrico Fermi, Edoardo Amaldi, Bruno
Pontecorve, Franco Rasetti, Emilio Segre, all of Rome, Italy, received a
patent for a "Process of Production of Radioactive Substances"
("production of isotopes of elements from other isotopes of the same or
different elements by reaction with neutrons, and especially to the
production of artificial radio activity by the formation of unstable
isotopes"); assigned to G. M. Giannini & Co. (New York).
August 11, 1942 - Hedy Kiesler Markey (Hedy Lamarr), of
Los Angeles, CA, and George Antheil, of Manhattan Beach, CA, received a
patent for a "Secret Communication System" ("involving the use of
carrier waves of different frequencies and is especially useful in the
remote control of dirigible craft, such as torpedoes"); "frequency
hopping"; 1957 - concept taken up by engineers at Sylvania
Electronic Systems Division; their arrangement, using electronics rather
than piano rolls, ultimately became basic tool for secure military
communications (installed on ships sent to blockade Cuba in 1962, about
three years after Lamarr-Antheil patent had expired); subsequent patents
in frequency changing, generally unrelated to torpedo control, have
referred to Lamarr-Antheil patent as basis of field, concept lies behind
principal anti-jamming device used today in U.S. government's Milstar
defense communication satellite system.
December 2, 1942 - Enrico Fermi and his team
demonstrated first self-sustained nuclear chain reaction (part of
the Manhattan Project, secret wartime project to develop nuclear
weapons) in makeshift lab underneath football stands at Stagg Field at University of Chicago; initiated modern nuclear age;
physicists and staffers, working around clock, built lattice of 57
layers of uranium metal and uranium oxide embedded in graphite blocks
supported by wooden structure.
August 1, 1943 - Groundbreaking ceremony in Oak Ridge, TN
for first uranium 235 manufacturing plant (needed to build A-bomb);
facility cost $280,000,000 to build, completed in summer of 1944.
November 29, 1951 - First U.S. underground atom bomb test
(to reduce the extensive logistic effort, time and cost) - designed
"Uncle" - was detonated; part of Operation Buster-Jangle, caused a hole
800-ft in diameter and 100-ft deep.
February 21, 1952 - General Dynamics
established after its predecessor and current operating division,
Electric Boat, acquired aircraft company Canadair Ltd.; began building first nuclear-powered submarine, USS Nautilus.
1965 - Puerto Rican immigrant John
Mariotta invested $3,000 to start a small company in renovated brick
garage in desolate area of the South Bronx to manufacture baby
carriages; 1970 - brought in a partner, Fred Neuberger,
focused on Department of Defense contracts; 1987 - grew
into $117 million Wedtech political scandal (corruption and
racketeering).
November 22, 1988 - Northrop Corporation introduced B-2
"stealth" bomber for first time at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, CA;
massive cost--more than $40 billion for development and a $1 billion
price tag for each unit; wingspan of nearly half a football field, its
radar signal was as negligible as that of a bird. The B-2 also
successfully evaded infrared, sound detectors, and the visible eye.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the original order
for the production of 132 stealth bombers was reduced to 21 aircraft.
The B-2 has won a prominent place in the modern U.S. Air Force fleet,
serving well in bombing missions during the 1990s.
January 16, 1997 - Raytheon Corp., then the nation's
sixth-largest weapons contractor, agreed to acquire Hughes Electronics,
General Motors's weapons unit and the country's fourth-largest military
manufacturer, at a cost of $9.5 billion.
April 2001 -
Northrop Grumman Corp. acquired Litton Industries Inc.
for $3.6 billion.
(GEC), Alex Brummer and Roger Cowe. (1998).
Weinstock: The Life and Times of Britain's Premier Industrialist.
(London, UK: HarperCollinsBusiness, 343 p.). Industrialists -- Great
Britain -- Biography; Jewish businesspeople -- Great Britain --
Biography.
(General Dynamics), eds. John Niven, Courtland Canby, Vernon Welsh
(1960). Dynamic America; A History of General Dynamics Corporation
and Its Predecessor Companies. (New York, NY: General Dynamics
Corporation, 426 p.). General Dynamics Corporation.
(General Dynamics), Jacob Goodwin (1985).
Brotherhood of Arms:
General Dynamics and the Business of Defending America. (New York,
NY: Times Books, 419 p.). General Dynamics Corporation; Defense
industries -- United States.
(General Dynamics), Roger Franklin (1986).
The Defender: The Story
of General Dynamics. (New York, NY: Harper & Row, 385 p.). General
Dynamics Corporation -- History; Defense industries -- United States --
History.
(General Dynamics), Patrick Tyler (1986).
Running Critical: The
Silent war, Rickover, and General Dynamics. (New York, NY: Harper &
Row, 374 p.). Rickover, Hyman George; General Dynamics Corporation; War
-- Economic aspects -- United States.
(General Dynamics), Jeffrey L. Rodengen (1994).
Serving the Silent Service: The Legend of Electric Boat. (Fort
Lauderdale, FL: Write Stuff Enterprises, 176 p.). Submarine
development; Defense contracts--United States.
(General Dynamics), James S. Reyburn (2006).
Electric Boat Corporation. (Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 128 p.).
Public Affairs Department at Electric Boat Corporation for 16 years.
General Dynamics Corporation. Electric Boat Division; Nuclear
submarines--Connecticut--Groton; Submarines
(Ships)--Connecticut--Groton; Groton (Conn.)--History.
1900 - company delivered Holland, first
submarine accepted by United States Navy; world’s first
nuclear-powered ship; world’s first
ballistic missile–firing submarine company through 10 decades.
(Grumman), Richard Thruelsen (1976).
The Grumman Story. (New
York, NY: Praeger, 401 p.). Grumman Corporation; Grumman airplanes.
(Grumman), Bill Gunston (1988).
Grumman: Sixty Years of Excellence.
(New York, NY: Orion Books, 159 p.). Grumman Aerospace
Corporation--History; Grumman airplanes--History; Aerospace
industries--United States--History; Aircraft industry--United
States--History.
(Grumman), George M. Skurla and William H. Gregory (2004).
Inside the Iron Works: How Grumman’s Glory Days Faded.
(Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 225 p.). Skurla, George M.;
Grumman Aerospace Corporation--History; United States.
Navy--Aviation--History; Aerospace engineers--Biography.
(Intelligarde International), George S. Rigakos (2002).
The New Parapolice: Risk Markets and Commodified Social Control.
(Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press, 182 p.). Intelligarde
International -- Case studies; Police, Private -- Canada -- Case
studies; Crime prevention -- Canada.
(Itek Corporation), Jonathan E. Lewis (2002). Spy Capitalism: Itek
and the CIA. (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 329 p.).
Portfolio Manager (OFFITBANK), Cochairman of the Intelligence
Capabilities Action Group at Business Executives for National Security
(BENS). Rockefeller, Laurance S., 1910- ; United States. Central
Intelligence Agency; Itek Corporation.
(Litton Industries - founded 1953), Beirne Lay; Foreword by James H.
Doolittle (1969).
Someone Has To Make It Happen; The Inside Story of
Tex Thornton, the Man Who Built Litton Industries. (Englewood
Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 204 p.). Thornton, Charles Bates, 1913- ;
Litton Industries.
(Litton Industries), Jeffrey L. Rodengen (2000).
The Legend of Litton Industries. (Write Stuff Enterprises: Write
Stuff Enterprises, 159 p.). Litton Industries--History; Defense
industries--United States--History; Conglomerate corporations--United
States--History.
(Nihon Keibi Hosh¯o Kabushiki Kaisha), H.T. Shimazaki (1992).
Vision in Japanese Entrepreneurship: The Evolution of a Security
Enterprise. (New York, NY: Routledge, 267 p.). Iida, Makoto,
1922- ; Nihon Keibi Hosh¯o Kabushiki Kaisha--Management; Security
systems industry--Japan--Management--Case studies; Telecommunication
equipment industry--Japan--Management--Case studies;
Entrepreneurship--Japan--Case studies.
(Rand Corporation), Alex Abella (2008).
Soldiers of Reason: The Rand Corporation and the Rise of the American
Empire. (Orlando, FL: Harcourt, 388 p.). Rand
Corporation--History; Rand Corporation--Influence; Research
institutes--United States--History--20th century; Military
research--United States--History--20th century; United
States--Intellectual life--20th century; United States--Foreign
relations--1945-1989; United States--Foreign relations--1989-; United
States--Military policy. Established in wake of
World War II to advise Air Force on how to wage and win wars, created
America’s anti-Soviet nuclear strategy; theories of rational warfare
steered conduct in Vietnam (invasion of Iraq); developed rational
choice theory, model explaining all human behavior through self-interest
(sparked Reagan-led transformation of social, economic system) .
(Raytheon), Otto J. Scott (1974).
The Creative Ordeal: The Story
of Raytheon. (New York, NY: Atheneum, 429 p.). Raytheon Company;
Electronic industries--United States--Case studies.
(Raytheon), Alan R. Earls and Robert E. Edwards (2005).
Raytheon Company: The First Sixty Years. (Charleston, SC:
Arcadia, 128 p.). Raytheon Company--History; Business
enterprises--Massachusetts--Lexington--History; Electronic
industries--Massachusetts--Lexington--History; Lexington
(Mass.)--Commerce--History; Waltham (Mass.)--Commerce--History.
From military components (radar components,
miniature tubes for crucial proximity fuse in antiaircraft shells) to
civilian products (microwave oven, televisions, marine radars,
transistors, miniature hearing aids, medical equipment).
(Sandia National Laboratories), Necah Stewart Furman (1990).
Sandia National Laboratories: The Postwar Decade. (Albuquerque,
NM: University of New Mexico Press, 858 p.). Sandia Laboratories --
History; Manhattan Project (U.S.) -- History.
(Thorn EMI Electronics. Radar Division), Derek Martin (1986).
Thorn EMI: 50 Years of Radar: 50 Years of Company Involvement with Radar
Technology 1936-1986. (Hayes, UK: Thorn EMI Electronics, Radar
Division, 85 p.). Thorn EMI Electronics. Radar Division -- History;
Great Britain Military radar equipment industries.
(Wedtech), William Sternberg and Matthew C. Harrison, Jr. (1989).
Feeding Frenzy. (New York, NY: Holt, 326 p.). Wedtech (Firm);
Defense contracts--Corrupt practices--United States.
(Wedtech), Marilyn W. Thompson (1990).
Feeding the Beast: How
Wedtech Became the Most Corrupt Little Company in America. (New
York, NY: Scribner, 337 p.). Wedtech (Firm); Defense contracts--Corrupt
practices--United States; Government purchasing--Corrupt
practices--United States.
(Wedtech), James Traub (1990).
Too Good To Be True: The Outlandish
Story of Wedtech. (New York, NY: Doubleday, 379 p.). Wedtech (Firm);
Defense contracts--Corrupt practices--United States; Government
purchasing--Corrupt practices--United States.
Deborah D. Avant (2005).
The Market for Force: The Consequences of Privatizing Security.
(New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 328 p.). Associate
Professor of Political Science and Director of the Institute for
Global and International Studies at the Elliott School of
International Affairs (George Washington University). Private security
services; Police--Contracting out; Mercenary troops; Internal
security; National security; Contracting out; Privatization.
Stuart D. Brandes (1997).
Warhogs: A History of War Profits in America. (Lexington, KY:
University Press of Kentucky, 371 p.). War--Economic aspects--United
States--History; Profiteering--United States--History.
War profits across nearly
entire scope of American history through four major military
mobilizations, smaller conflicts.
Jurgen Brauer and Hubert van Tuyll (2008).
Castles, Battles, & Bombs: How Economics Explains Military History.
(Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 403 p.). Professor of
Economics in the James M. Hull College of Business (Augusta State
University); Professor of History and Chair of the Department of
History, Anthropology, and Philosophy (Augusta State University). War
--Economic aspects --History; Military history. Key episodes of
military history from point of view of economics - building of castles
in Middle Ages, great
commanders of the Age of Battle, strategic bombing of Germany in World
War II, France’s decision to develop nuclear weapons; lessons for
today’s military.
David Hambling (2005).
Weapons Grade: How Modern Warfare Gave Birth to Our High-Tech World.
(New York, NY: Carroll & Graf, 402 p.). British Defense Journalist.
Military research; Technology; Technological innovations.
Robert D. Hormats (2007).
The Price of Liberty: Paying for America’s Wars. (New York,
NY: Times Books, 384 p.). Vice Chairman of Goldman Sachs
(International), Managing Director of Goldman, Sachs & Co. United
States. Dept. of Defense--Appropriations and expenditures; Debts,
Public--United States; Finance, Public--United States--History;
War--Economic aspects--United States; National security--United
States--Finance--History; United States--Armed Forces--Appropriations
and expenditures. How leaders (Madison, Lincoln, FDR, Reagan)
have followed Hamilton’s ideals (from greenback, progressive income
tax to Victory Bond, Victory Garden campaign, cost-sharing with
allies); rampant borrowing to pay for war in Iraq, short-sighted tax
cuts in face of long-term war on terrorism run counter to American
tradition, place country’s security in peril.
Solomon Hughes (2007).
War on Terror, Inc.: Corporate Profiteering from the Politics of Fear.
(New York, NY: Verso, 262 p.). Defense industries; Defense
industries--Political aspects; Military readiness--Economic aspects;
Military-industrial complex; Great Britain--Defenses--Economic
aspects; United States--Defenses--Economic aspects. Private
contractors doing governments' dirtiest work; who is behind companies
that reap dividend of war? how close are they to political
decision-makers? do they actually deliver at cost-effective price?; how
to
justify delivering area of public life which requires very highest
standards of scrupulousness, integrity into hands of market forces.
Jonathan Kirshner (2007).
Appeasing Bankers: Financial Caution on the Road to War.
(Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 248 p.). Professor of
Government (Cornell University). War--Economic aspects; Banks and
banking--History--20th century; Military history, Modern--20th
century--Economic aspects. Financial communities favor
caution, demonstrate marked aversion to war; value economic stability; interest in peace both pronounced,
predictable; states that pursue appeasement when assertiveness is
warranted are often appeasing
their bankers.
Armin Krishnan (2008).
War as Business: Technological Change and Military Service Contracting.
(Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 207 p.). Research Assistant at Salford
Business School (University of Salford, UK). War--Economic
aspects--United States; Technology--Military aspects; Defense
contracts--Economic aspects--United States; Defense
industries--Technological innovations--Economic aspects--United
States; Security, International. Privatization
of the defense sector - due to technology (weapons and logistics,
computer software behind them, have become so complicated, armed
forces cannot keep up, have to employ contractors); government at war
can lower casualties among its soldiers (pay for contractors to guard
embassies, convoys, airports).
Edward S. Miller (2007).
Bankrupting the Enemy: The U.S. Financial Siege of Japan before Pearl
Harbor. (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 323 p.). Former
CFO of a major international mining corporation, U.S. Synthetic Fuels
Corporation. Economic sanctions, American--Japan--History--20th
century; United States--Foreign economic relations--Japan;
Japan--Foreign economic relations--United States; Japan--Economic
conditions--1918-1945. United States forced Japan into international
bankruptcy to deter its aggression but deprivations facing Japanese people in financial limbo
led to its choice of war at Pearl Harbor.
T. Christian Miller (2006).
Blood Money: Wasted Billions, Lost Lives, and Corporate Greed in Iraq.
(New York, NY: Little, Brown, 334 p.). Reporter (Los Angeles Times). Bush, George W. (George
Walker), 1946- ; Iraq War, 2003---Economic aspects; Iraq War,
2003---Moral and ethical aspects--United States; Iraq War,
2003---Equipment and supplies; Petroleum industry and trade--Political
aspects--United States; United States--Politics and government--2001-.
Author focuses on bungling of government
spending and private contracts, some $30 billion committed to
rebuilding Iraq, greater sum than for the Marshall Plan.
James C. Mulvenon (2001).
Soldiers of Fortune: The Rise and Fall of the Chinese
Military-Business Complex, 1978-1998. (Armonk, NY: M. E.
Sharpe, 283 p.). Deputy Director, Advanced Analysis (Center for
Intelligence Research and Analysis, Defense Group Inc.). China.
Zhongguo ren min jie fang jun; Military-owned business
enterprises--China. Rise and fall of the Chinese
military's multi-billion dollar international business empire.
Paul Poast (2005).
The Economics of War. (New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 240 p.).
Lecturer in Economics (Ohio State University). War--Economic aspects;
War--Economic aspects--United States. Examples of
war to explain economic concepts (macroeconomics of public
spending on war, game theory from cold war strategy, market monopoly and
industrial structure of arms industry).
Vernon W. Ruttan (2006).
Is War Necessary for Economic Growth?: Military Procurement and
Technology Development. (New York, NY: Oxford University
Press, 219 p.). Regents Professor Emeritus in the Department of
Applied Economics and Adjunct Professor in the Hubert H. Humphrey
Institute of Public Affairs (University of Minnesota). Technological
innovations--Economic aspects; High technology--Military aspects;
Economic development; Defense industries--Economic aspects--United
States; Technological innovations--Economic aspects--United States;
High technology industries--United States.
Relationship, if any, between the U.S. government's preparation for or
engagement in warfare and creation of new general-purpose
technologies that contribute to increasing the rate of economic
growth.
Todd Sandler and Keith Hartley (1995).
The Economics of Defense. (New York, NY: Cambridge
University Press, 387 p.). Robert R. and Katheryn A. Dockson Chair
of International Relations and Economics (University of Southern
California); Professor of Economics and Director, Centre for
Defence Economics (University of York, UK). Economic
conversion--United States; United States--Defenses--Economic
aspects; United States--Military policy.
Economic analysis of defense and peace issues.
Ayesha Siddiqa (2007).
Military Inc.: Inside Pakistan’s Military Economy. (Ann Arbor,
MI: Pluto Press, 292 p.). Military government--Pakistan;
Civil-military relations--Pakistan; Military-owned business
enterprises--Pakistan; Pakistan--Politics and government. Hollow
economic growth of armed forces-dominated economy; military capital
estimate of $20.7 billion; Pakistan military as oppressive holding
company, in charge of economic development.
Peter W. Singer (2007).
Corporate Warriors: The Rise of the
Privatized Military Industry. (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University
Press, 360 p [rev. and updated). Fellow, Brookings Institution. Defense industries;
Military-industrial complex; Privatization; Defense industries--United
States; Military-industrial complex--United States;
Privatization--United States; United States--Military policy.
Corporations sell skills, services that until
recently only state militaries possessed; products range from trained
commando teams to strategic advice from generals; ew "Privatized
Military Industry" encompasses hundreds of companies, thousands of
employees, billions in revenue.
Joseph E. Stiglitz and Linda J. Bilmes (2008).
The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict.
(New York, NY: Norton, 311 p.). 2001 Nobel Prize in Economics,
University Professor (Columbia University); Professor of Public
Finance (Harvard's Kennedy School of Government), former assistant
secretary for management and budget in the U.S. Department of
Commerce. Iraq War, 2003- -- Finance -- United States; War -- Economic
aspects -- United States; War -- Economic aspects -- Iraq.
White House
has kept Congress, Comptroller General from clear idea
on war's true costs; expense items hidden from U.S. taxpayer
(replacing military equipment used up at six
times peacetime rate, cost of caring for thousands of wounded veterans
for rest of their lives); cost in lives, economic damage within Iraq,
region; what U.S. taxpayer's money would have produced if instead it
had been invested in further growth of U.S. economy.
William Urban and Introduction by Terry Jones (2006).
Medieval Mercenaries: The Business of War. (London, UK:
Greenhill Books, 304 p.). Lee L. Morgan Professor of History (Monmouth
College). Mercenaries; Middle Ages; Soldiers of Fortune.
Vital importance of
mercenary to medieval power-broker, from the Byzantine Varangian Guard
to fifteenth-century soldiers of fortune in the Baltic. Mark R. Wilson (2006).
The Business of Civil War: Military Mobilization and the State,
1861-1865. (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 306
p.). Teaches American History (University of North Carolina at
Charlotte). United States. Army--Mobilization--History--Civil War,
1861-1865; Contracting out--United States--History--19th century; United
States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Economic aspects.
History of army procurement arena in United States during third quarter
of nineteenth century; military struggles of Civil War rested on giant
project of economic mobilization that was object of high-stakes
struggles over resources.
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