In the industrialized West, no single company today stands out as a symbol of arms production in the way that Germany's Krupp or Britain's Vickers once did. Major U.S. weapons makers also, for example, turn out such pacific products as farm machinery and hair dryers. A relatively small number of firms—not necessarily the same ones that rank as the Defense Department's principal suppliers—dominate America's arms sales overseas. Last year the Pentagon listed the U.S.'s top ten armaments exporters as:
FMC Corp. (Chicago), M-113 armored personnel carriers. Defense export sales: $271.8 million.
Northrop Corp. (Los Angeles), F-5 series of fighter-bombers; $220.7 million.
Chrysler Corp. (Detroit),...
