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Home to 20 major military installations and three unified combatant commands, Florida has one of the nation’s largest defense and homeland security industries.
Virtually every major defense contractor from the U.S. and abroad has significant operations in Florida. With over 17,900 companies and 194,000 employees, the Florida defense and homeland security industry is one of the nation’s largest. From defense aviation to biometrics to cybersecurity, Florida’s areas of industry expertise are wide-reaching, and there are few states that can compete with its labor force — ranked fourth in the nation for high-tech employment.
Home to 20 major military installations, Florida boasts one of the nation's largest defense and homeland security industries.
With nearly 1.5 million veterans, 30,000 current defense professionals and large numbers of former military and NASA personnel, Florida offers an impressive pool of workers with the skills and security clearances your business needs. The state’s world-class educational institutions are consistently among the nation’s top producers of STEM graduates.
Florida offers the airspace and infrastructure to meet your needs with thousands of square miles of controlled land and over water air space, 300+ days of VFR flight conditions a year and multiple aerospace and defense parks with “through the fence” access. Additionally, defense companies in Florida have access to 100 public-use airports, including 20 commercial airports, and two spaceports to seamlessly operate from Florida.
Florida’s areas of excellence in defense include electro-optics and lasers, simulation and training, logistics/warfighter support, defense electronics and military flight training, among others. Standout defense companies located in Florida include Lockheed Martin, Boeing, BAE Systems, Honeywell, Raytheon, Rockwell Collins and Sikorsky. The state’s strengths in homeland security include the areas of cybersecurity, biometrics, disaster preparedness, response, and recovery, maritime security and more. Select companies operating in this area include General Dynamics, Harris, L-3 Communications and Motorola Solutions.