A Resource hub for those working to
dismantle the
Military Industrial Complex
Resource Hub
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Commonly Cited US Military Spending FY2024 (excluding VA & Other Spending): $997,000,000,000 ($997 Billion)
•
Real Total US Military Spending FY2024: $1,700,000,000,000 ($1.7 Trillion)
•
Percentage of Pentagon Budget Going to Contractors: 54
•
Minimum Estimated Cost of US "war on terror": $8,000,000,000,000 ($8 Trillion)
•
Number of US military bases abroad: 750-800
•
Top 5 Pentagon Contractors: Lockheed Martin, Raytheon (RTX), Boeing, General Dynamics, Northrup Grumman
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Commonly Cited US Military Spending FY2024 (excluding VA & Other Spending): $997,000,000,000 ($997 Billion) • Real Total US Military Spending FY2024: $1,700,000,000,000 ($1.7 Trillion) • Percentage of Pentagon Budget Going to Contractors: 54 • Minimum Estimated Cost of US "war on terror": $8,000,000,000,000 ($8 Trillion) • Number of US military bases abroad: 750-800 • Top 5 Pentagon Contractors: Lockheed Martin, Raytheon (RTX), Boeing, General Dynamics, Northrup Grumman •
See below for sources.
The Military Industrial Complex Visualized
What is the Military Industrial Complex?
The Military Industrial Complex is that corrupt alliance of weapons makers, the Pentagon, and Congress that pushes endless wars for profit—while draining trillions from our communities.
“we must guard against
the acquisition of
unwarranted influence … by the
military-industrial complex.”
President Dwight D. Eisenhower, “Farewell Address,” 1961”
“Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing
of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.”
President Dwight D. Eisenhower, “Farewell Address,” 1961
Eisenhower’s
Farewell Address on the
Military Industrial Complex
President Dwight D. Eisenhower effectively coined the term “Military Industrial Complex” in his 1961 Presidential Farewell Address to the nation. Watch the clip and full speech below where he warns the country about the dangers of the Complex. Read the text of the speech here.
Short Clip
Full Speech
Sources for Statistics in scrolling ticker above
Commonly Cited US Military Spending FY2024: $997,000,000,000 ($997 Billion)
SIPRI, “Unprecedented rise in global military expenditure as European and Middle East spending surges,” April 28, 2025, https://www.sipri.org/media/press-release/2025/unprecedented-rise-global-military-expenditure-european-and-middle-east-spending-surges.
Real Total US Military Spending FY2024: $1,700,000,000,000 ($1.7 Trillion)
David Vine, calculations available at Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/p/DJRgj_cpjws/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==.
Percentage of Pentagon Budget Going to Contractors: 54
Across 2020–2024. William D. Hartung and Stephen Semler, “Profits of War: Top Beneficiaries of Pentagon Spending, 2020 – 2024,” Quincy Brief #79, Quincy Institute, July 8, 2025, https://quincyinst.org/research/profits-of-war-top-beneficiaries-of-pentagon-spending-2020-2024.
Minimum Estimated Cost of US “War on Terror”: $8,000,000,000,000 ($8 Trillion)
Costs of War Project, “Estimate of U.S. Post-9/11 War Spending,” June 2025, https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/costs/economic/budget.
Number of US Military Bases Abroad: 750–800
Overseas Base Realignment and Closure Coalition, Fact Sheet, https://www.overseasbases.net/fact-sheet.html. Drawing on David Vine, Patterson Deppen, and Leah Bolger, “Drawdown: Improving U.S. and Global Security Through Military Base Closures Abroad,” Quincy Brief #16, Quincy Institute/World Beyond War, September 20, 2021, https://quincyinst.org/report/drawdown-improving-u-s-and-global-security-through-military-base-closures-abroad/.
Top 5 Pentagon Contractors
Across 2020–2024. Hartung and Semler, “Profits of War.”
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