“Show Me” the money!

The Department of Defense invests more than $13 billion annually in Missouri, fueling more than 25,000 businesses statewide.

• Boeing’s Defense, Space, and Security manufacturing facility in St. Louis
  • One of the nation’s largest defense contractors
  • More than 16,000 employees
  • Manufacturing advanced military jets, aircraft parts, and military ordnance
• The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s $1.6 billion western regional headquarters is in St. Louis.
• Leonardo DRS Land Systems is headquartered in St. Louis and has a 100-acre heavy equipment manufacturing facility in West Plains.
• The Olin Winchester Lake City Ammunition Plant in Independence is the largest producer of small-arms munitions for the DOD, producing more than a billion rounds per year.
• EaglePicher in Joplin produces high-tech lithium batteries for missiles, munitions, directed energy weapons, unmanned underwater vehicles, and portable power.
• World Wide Technology, headquartered in St. Louis, is a global leader in computer system design for the defense industry.

Education

• 35 Missouri institutions offer aerospace and defense-related degrees
• 13 focus on precision production
• For engineering and technology degrees, Missouri offers 21 associate programs, 19 bachelor’s, 10 master’s, and 4 Ph.D. programs

Employment (# of jobs)

• Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators: 35,957
• First-line supervisors of production and operating workers: 14,188
• Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers: 11,631
• Machinists: 5,433
• Mechanical engineers: 3,592
• Aircraft mechanics and service technicians: 3,381
• Engineers, all other: 2,112
• Aerospace engineers: 1,569
• Electrical and electronic engineering technologists and technicians: 1,115
• Structural metal fabricators and fitters: 642

*Statistics courtesy of Missouri Partnership (https://missouripartnership.com/major-industries/aerospace-defense)