Date: Sep 08, 2010 Author: Corey Pein Source: SF Reporter (
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This week marks the ninth anniversary of 9.11.
In that time, the focus of America's military efforts has moved from Afghanistan to Iraq—a war whose "end" President Barack Obama announced last week—and now back to Afghanistan.
The name for the conflicts has changed, too, from "global war on terror" to "overseas contingency operations."
Political power has shifted from Republicans to Democrats.
But in the years since 9.11, there has been one constant in the ensuing conflicts: money.
War can be good for business—not only for those who build fighter jets or sell bullets, but also for the sprawling network of civilian companies whose chief customer is the US military and for the security agencies. This is especially true in a state with as many federal outposts as New Mexico.
This state is home to some crown jewels of the military-industrial complex, including the national laboratories in Los Alamos and Albuquerque. But even the placid city of Santa Fe—more famous for oil paintings than arms manufacturing—has its fair share of wartime entrepreneurs.
To identify the local companies that have profited during this time of war and terror, SFR trolled federal spending records for clues. The results? More than 50 local companies have done business with the departments of Defense or Homeland Security in just the past two fiscal years, winning a combined $441 million in contracts.
Here, we look at the 10 biggest. For the complete list of companies, visit SFReporter.com and warisbusiness.com, a new investigative website by the author.
Who cares how these companies make their money? Whether or not one supports the reasons behind today's conflicts, it's clear that profits for military contracts are consuming funds that could be spent elsewhere.
Obama's budget plans for this fiscal year call for a 7.4 percent increase to spending for defense, homeland security and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, for a combined total of $752 billion. At the same time, Obama wants to cut every department that isn't related to national security by a collective 1.5 percent, or $6 billion.
As the wider economy suffers, the war business continues to grow.
7. Southwest Sciences Inc.
'09-'10 awards: $2,498,816
Business: Physics research
This research and development company does quite a bit of advanced weapons work for the Army, Navy, Air Force and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency—which, back in the day, funded the research that led to the creation of the internet.
Recent Southwest Sciences contracts involve work on sensors required to develop viable "scramjet" engines, which can reach hypersonic speeds using the oxygen in the surrounding air as an element of propulsion. Theoretically, scramjets could replace traditional rockets as a means to reach orbit; an experimental scramjet-powered missile under development by the US military aims to reach some 4,000 miles per hour, and be able to strike anywhere on Earth in an hour.
Another Southwest Sciences contract involves similar work on experimental "pulsed detonation engines," which "have the potential to operate with higher efficiency and lower operating costs than scramjets and turbines."
