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The Defense Industrial Base in Pennsylvania

The Defense Industrial Base in Pennsylvania:

Current State, Challenges, and Opportunities

This report was developed using Exiger’s proprietary AI to show the importance of Pennsylvania’s Defense Industrial Base (DIB), where it is exposed to risk, and where targeted action can help the Commonwealth strengthen U.S. defense readiness.

 

More information on methodology can be found at the end of the report. Continue reading for an overview of the report’s key findings, or download the full report to explore the complete analysis and recommendations.

Pennsylvania’s Current Role: A Critical Defense Supply Chain State

Pennsylvania is a critical contributor to U.S. national security and the national DIB. The Commonwealth’s defense workforce includes more than 190,000 people. The state’s DIB has received over $263 billion in Department of War (DOW) contract funding over the past two decades, ranking seventh overall among U.S. states.

 

Pennsylvania’s DIB spans 8,939 companies, including 5,415 that have been contracted by the DOW over the past five years and 4,264 that supply federally cataloged defense parts; 740 companies serve both roles. These companies manufacture more than 465,000 parts supporting the national DIB, including roughly 113,000 parts deemed essential to weapon system functionality. Pennsylvania suppliers are also the single-source for more than 288,000 parts across nearly 2,000 weapon systems, underscoring the Commonwealth’s role as a defense supply chain state.

Top 20 Single-Source Suppliers by Number of Weapon System-Critical Parts

(Source: Exiger) Top 20 Pennsylvania-based suppliers by number of parts, where company is the single-source for that part and where the part is essential to the functionality of at least one weapon system

Pennsylvania’s Exposure: Critical Capabilities Carry Critical Risks

Pennsylvania’s defense-industrial importance also creates risk exposure. Single-source supplier dependence, foreign raw material dependencies, declining domestic forging and casting capacity, and complex qualification requirements could limit the Commonwealth’s ability to sustain, replace, qualify, and surge critical parts when defense demand increases.

U.S. Reliance on Foreign Adversarial Raw Materials
High Foreign Reliance
Partial Foreign Reliance
Self-Sufficient

(Source: Exiger) Top 20 elements by number of parts from Pennsylvania-based suppliers, color coded by the degree of U.S. self-sufficiency in production of the element.

Note: Carbon’s reliance is depicted as partial reliance as the average for graphite’s high foreign reliance and coal and coke’s self-sufficient U.S. production.

Pennsylvania’s strengths come with structural risks. Three stand out: dependence on adversary-controlled raw materials, dwindling manufacturing capacity in the United States, and procurement friction that slows the parts most needed in a fight. Each is a vulnerability that investment and policy can address.

Pennsylvania’s Opportunity: Targeted Investment Can Enable the Next Step Forward

The report identifies four investment opportunities where targeted action can strengthen Pennsylvania’s defense-industrial position. First, Pennsylvania can build on its robotics, autonomy, AI, and additive manufacturing strengths by investing in skilled labor, testing, and qualification infrastructure. Second, Pennsylvania can preserve and expand traditional defense production, especially critical parts supplied by specialized manufacturers. Third, Pennsylvania can strengthen its position in space systems through lunar robotics, space manufacturing, test infrastructure, and commercialization pathways. Fourth, Pennsylvania can reduce raw material vulnerability, both by addressing the shortage in domestic production of high-performance steels critical to grid resilience and weapon systems and by expanding domestic titanium melt, forge, and processing capacity.

Emerging Defense tech

Build on strengths in robotics, autonomy, AI, and additive manufacturing.

Traditional Defense Production

Preserve and expand capacity for critical parts and traditional manufacturing.

SPACE

Strengthen position in space systems, lunar robotics, test infrastructure, and commercialization pathways.

Raw Materials

Reduce raw material vulnerabilities and expand domestic production of critical materials.

Pennsylvania already plays a material role in U.S. defense readiness, but that role must be deliberately expanded. Exiger’s analysis brings together contract data, parts-level dependencies, supplier networks, weapon system reliance, and industrial capacity to show where Pennsylvania matters most, where risk is concentrated, and where targeted investment can help the Commonwealth enable the next step forward for the national DIB.

About the Research

Exiger analyzed DOW-awarded contracts to Pennsylvania-based companies from the past twenty fiscal years (FY 2007 through FY 2026 year-to-date) to determine key suppliers, award amounts, and categories of supply, based on product or service codes (PSC) and companies’ North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes. Exiger also surfaced defense parts supplied by Pennsylvania-based companies through its proprietary PinPoint parts database, which houses information on USG-procured parts, their suppliers, and key technical characteristics. PinPoint-listed parts are categorized under National Item Identification Numbers (NIINs), which are unique 9-digit codes that identify a standardized item of supply. Multiple manufacturer part numbers from multiple suppliers may be categorized under one NIIN, when they are understood as functionally interchangeable parts. “NIINs” are exclusively referred to as “parts” throughout this report.

About Exiger

Exiger transforms supply chain management from a complex challenge into a strategic advantage. Through the intuitive 1ExigerAI platform, organizations gain instant visibility into vast supplier ecosystems through a single pane of glass, helping them proactively identify risk, strengthen resilience, and drive operational excellence.

Download the full report to explore the complete analysis, methodology, and strategic recommendations for strengthening Pennsylvania’s Defense Industrial Base.

Download the Full Report
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