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A defense contractor (or military contractor) is a business organization or individual that provides products or services to a military department of a government. Products typically include military aircraft, ships, vehicles, weaponry, and electronic systems. Services can include logistics, technical support and training communications support, and in some cases team-based engineering in cooperation with the government.

Military contractors do not generally provide direct support of military operations. Under 1949 Geneva Conventions military contractors engaged in direct support of military operations may be legitimate targets of military attacks. Compare to a private military contractor.

Defense contracting has expanded dramatically over the last decade, particularly in the United States, where in the last fiscal year the Department of Defense spent nearly $316 billion on contracts.^[1] Contractors have also assumed a much larger on-the-ground presence during recent American conflicts: during the 1991 Gulf War the ratio of uniformed military to contractors was about 50 to 1, while during the first four years of the Iraq War the U.S. hired over 190,000 contractors, surpassing the total American military presence even during the 2007 Iraq surge and 23 times greater than other allied military personnel numbers.^[1] In Afghanistan, the presence of almost 100,000 contractors has resulted in a near 1 to 1 ratio with military personnel.^[1]

List of notable defense contractors worldwide[link]

2010 rank	2009 rank	2008 rank	2007 rank	Company (country)	2010 arms sales (US$ m.)	2009 arms sales (US$ m.)	2008 arms sales (US$ m.)	2007 arms sales (US$ m.)	Arms sales as share of company’s total sales (%),
1	1	2	3	Lockheed Martin	35730	33430	29880	29400	78
2	2	1	2	BAE Systems	32880	33250	32420	29860	95
3	3	3	1	Boeing	31360	32300	29200	30480	49
4	4	4	4	Northrop Grumman	28150	27000	26090	24600	81
5	5	5	5	General Dynamics	23940	25590	22780	21520	74
6	6	6	6	Raytheon	22980	21030	23080	19540	91
7	7	7	7	EADS	16360	17900	15930	13100	27
8	8	8	9	Finmeccanica	14410	13280	13020	9850	58
9	9	9	8	L-3 Communications	13070	13010	12160	11240	83
10	10	11	11	United Technologies	11410	11110	9980	8760	21
11	11	10	10	Thales Group	9950	10200	10760	9350	57
12	12	12	12	SAIC	8230	8030	7350	6250	74
13	27	37	45	Oshkosh Truck	7080	2770	2070	1570	72
14	13	14	13	Computer Sciences Corp.	5940	6050	5710	5420	37
15	14	15	15	Honeywell	5400	5380	5310	5020	16
16	16	25	14	SAFRAN	4800	4740	3020	5230	34
17	19	17	17	Rolls-Royce	4330	4140	4720	4580	26
18	18	22	20	General Electric	4300	4700	3650	3460	3
19	17	16	19	ITT Corp.	4000	4730	5170	3850	36
20	22	18	23	Almaz-Antei	3950	3260	4340	2780	89

^{[nb 1]}

1. ^ N = New to the SIPRI Top 100

Source: http://www.sipri.org/research/armaments/production/Top100 "Arms sales are defined by SIPRI as sales of military goods and services to military customers, including both domestic and export sales. Military goods and services are those which are designed specifically for military purposes."

See also[link]

• Arms industry
• Government contractor
• List of NASA contractors
• List of private military contractors
• List of United States defense contractors
• Military-industrial complex

References[link]

External links[link]

• The British Library - finding information on the defence industry
• Private Security Transnational Enterprises in Colombia
• Human Rights First; Private Security Contractors at War: Ending the Culture of Impunity (2008)
• Defense Contracting Jobseekers FAQ

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Paul Tonko
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 21st district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2009
Preceded by	Michael R. McNulty
Member of the New York State Assembly from the 105th district
In office April 1983 – June 2007
Preceded by	Gail Shaffer
Succeeded by	George Amedore
Personal details
Born	(1949-06-18) June 18, 1949 (age 63) Amsterdam, New York
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Single
Residence	Amsterdam, New York
Alma mater	Clarkson University
Profession	Engineer
Religion	Roman Catholic
Website	Congressional Campaign Website

Paul David Tonko (born June 18, 1949) is the U.S. Representative for New York's 21st congressional district, serving since 2009. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district is located in the heart of the Capital District (which includes Albany, Schenectady and Troy). He previously represented the 105th District in the New York Assembly from 1983 to 2007.

Tonko was president and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, from 2007 until his resignation on April 25, 2008.^[1][2]

Early life, education, and early career[link]

Tonko is a lifelong resident of Amsterdam, New York, near Schenectady. He holds a degree in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering from Clarkson University.^[1]

Tonko was a member, and subsequently Chair, of the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors. He also worked at that time as an engineer in private business.

New York Assembly (1983-2007)[link]

He represented the 105th District, which comprises Amsterdam in addition to Rotterdam, Princetown, Mohawk and Glen, and part of Schenectady.^[1]

Elections[link]

Incumbent Democrat Assemblywoman Gail Shaffer resigned from her seat to become the New York Secretary of State.^[3] Tonko ran for the seat in an April 1983 special election against Republican Eugene Hallock, and won with 54% of the vote.^[1][4] He won re-election 15 more times. He never won re-election with less than 62% of the vote.^[5] File:Anti-Tonko signs distributed in 2008.pdf

Tenure[link]

Tonko was also the major advocate of "Timothy's Law" to require health insurers to cover mental illness.^[6]

Assemblyman Tonko was a chief sponsor of the Northeast Dairy Compact,^[7] the Chairman of the Legislative Commission on Rural Resources,^[8] and was appointed by Speaker Sheldon Silver to serve as Commissioner for the Mohawk Valley Heritage Corridor Commission.^{[citation needed]}

Tonko vacated his seat on June 29, 2007, after Gov. Eliot Spitzer tapped Tonko as president of NYSERDA, an authority or public benefit corporation created in 1975 by the New York State Legislature.^[1]

Committee assignments[link]

While in the Assembly, Tonko served as the Chairman of the Energy Committee, a position he held since 1992.^[1] Tonko was also a member of standing committees on Agriculture, Transportation and Education, where he was the original sponsor and a chief proponent of the College Tuition Savings Program that was signed into law in 1997.^[9]

CEO of NYSERDA (2007-2008)[link]

Tonko was President and CEO of NYSERDA (New York State Energy Research and Development Authority) from 2007 to 2008, when he resigned to run for U.S. Representative.^[1][2] Due to his experience as an engineer, as chair of the Assembly Energy Committee, and as CEO of NYSERDA, he is considered an expert in energy law, especially New York energy law.^[10][11] In March 2011, the Albany Times Union published a op-ed essay by Tonko about clean energy.^[12]

U.S. House of Representatives (2008-Present)[link]

Elections[link]

2008

Tonko entered the 2008 Democratic Primary for New York State's 21st Congressional District after 10-term incumbent Michael McNulty (with whom he served in the State Assembly from 1983 to 1989) decided to retire.^[13] Despite having less money than both his main rivals, Tonko won the primary on September 9, 2008 with a plurality of 40% of the vote.^[14][15] He ran against Republican James Buhrmaster, a Schenectady County legislator, in the general election.^[15]

The 21st is the most Democratic district in the state outside of the New York City area and Western New York. Democrats have a large advantage in registration.^[16] As such, it was generally believed Tonko had assured himself of a seat in Congress with his victory in the primary.^{[citation needed]}

His Republican opponent, Jim Buhrmaster, launched an ad campaign calling Tonko "Taxin' Tonko," a reference to the over 400 votes Tonko made as a member of the Assembly to raise taxes.^{[citation needed]}

On November 4, 2008, he won in a landslide, with over 60% of the total vote.^[17] "Tonko's name recognition ... accomplishment in the Legislature, such as the passage of mental health parity legislation, and his record" contributed to his win.^[17] According to preliminary figures the day after the election, he beat Burhmaster by 105,313 to 57,086, with Philip Steck, a minor party candidate, receiving 5,025 votes.^[17]

2010

In 2010, Tonko ran for re-election on the Democratic, Working Families and Independence Party lines. He was challenged by Republican and Conservative Party nominee Ted Danz, a former United States Navy Reservist and small business owner in the cooling and heating business. Congressional Quarterly rated the race as "Safe" for the incumbent party to keep the seat.^[18] Tonko raised almost $980,000, and spent almost $780,000 on his campaign; Danz raised about $44,000 and spent about $42,000 for his own campaign.^[19][20] The seat was rated by The New York Times as being "Solid Democratic" with "99.8 %" to "100 % chance" that Tonko would win the seat.^[20] The major issues in the 2010 race were Tonko's "yes" votes for the Health Care Bill, the Stimulus Package (ARRA), and the Energy Bill.^[20] The Albany Times Union endorsed Tonko in that race, citing "a way of thinking and speaking like the engineer that he once was" and his support of the economic stimulus bill and health care bills.^[21]

Tonko won the general election on November 2, 2010, by a vote of 124,889 to 85,752.^[22]

Tenure[link]

Tonko was one of the 19 most liberal house members, according to the National Journal, for 2011.^[23]

He sponsored a bill to get $800 million research program in wind energy technologies, which would benefit GE in his district.He also wanted to create a research program to improve the efficiency of gas turbines used in power generation systems that convert heat into energy. In 2010, Tonko got a provision in a House-passed bill, following the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, to prevent future spills and help small businesses in spill research. In 2011, he sponsored an amendment seeking to protect the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate carbon emissions.^[24]

He is strongly against expanding the Bush-era tax cuts for high-income earners. Among other key votes, he voted for the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010,^[25] Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,^[26] American Clean Energy and Security Act,^[27] and American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.^[28] He voted against the Republicans' budget.^[29]

Committee assignments[link]

• Committee on Natural Resources
• Committee on Science, Space and Technology
  • Subcommittee on Research and Science Education
  • Subcommittee on Energy and Environment

Caucus memberships[link]

• Congressional Arts Caucus
• Heritage Corridor Caucus
• Congressional Biomass Caucus

See also[link]

• Energy law

References[link]

External links[link]

• Congressman Paul D. Tonko official U.S. House site
• Paul Tonko for Congress official campaign site
• Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Congressional profile at OpenCongress
• Issue positions and quotes at On the Issues
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Campaign contributions at the National Institute for Money in State Politics
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
• Biography from New Energy New York