The thing about capitalism is that companies typically need to grow their revenues and thereupon their corresponding profit, year after year, or else investors will find some other investment that fills that criteria better. This indicates that defense contractors are going to surely be subject to the same general criteria that every other public corporation must meet, which is to demonstrate that it is growing, as well as to demonstrate that it has the means to continue to grow and to be relevant. What defense contractors have in their favor, as opposed to those that primarily do business with non-governmental entities, is that the government pays its bills on time and is good for repeat business time and time again, along with the important fact that the Department of Defense has a gargantuan budget which doesn’t seem susceptible to being cut anytime soon.
The fact that the Department of Defense has a budget which is nearly one trillion dollars, makes those who do business with the DoD salivate because the money pie is so huge, in addition to the salient fact that a significant amount of business conducted with the DoD isn’t really competitive, at all, but pretty much the business is going to go to a sole main contractor, subject to the usual governmental auditing and supervision, which for those that work almost exclusively with the government, means that they need not worry, because each side to the equation, understands well the unwritten rules in play.
Perhaps all this sounds fine to the average citizen, depending upon their interest or lack, thereof, but in actuality, it should concern all citizens, because when we take a company, such as Lockheed Martin, we find that nearly 70% of its annual revenue of approximately $70 billion represent contracts with the government, of which, the vast majority of that business is specifically with the DoD. So then, this would clearly mean that for Lockheed Martin, as well as other big DoD contractors, that war, or the threat of war, is not only very good for their business but is, quite frankly, necessary for their business enterprise. This signifies that what is good for Lockheed Martin is not then good for those who feel that we expend too much money on the military, because it seems that this isn't up for debate, which makes sense for Lockheed Martin, for without the DoD steady stream of money, Lockheed Martin would probably have to file for bankruptcy.
Indeed, for all those who hope for diplomatic solutions and less bellicosity from the United States, this isn't going to happen, anytime soon, for the pathway that this nation is on, is one that the military-industrial-technology complex will not relent from, and no matter the circumstances they aren't interested in stagnating with yesterday's budget, but rather they insist upon an ever expanding budget, and the pathway to keep the money flowing in without too much pushback is to keep the American population nervous, by believing that some outside agency or terrorist, or nation-state is a real threat to America, which when successfully sold to the American people, makes them to believe, that all is fair, when in reality, it is foul.