Last Supper (defense industry)

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The "Last Supper" was a July 21, 1993, dinner at The Pentagon attended by representatives of major United States defense contractors to discuss industry consolidation in the wake of plans to decrease defense spending after the end of the Cold War. Hosted by then-U.S. Secretary of Defense Les Aspin and Deputy Secretary of Defense William Perry, representatives were told the US government expected to be unable to support the existing number of firms in the industry, and that projections indicated only a few in each sector would survive upcoming budget cuts. The name was coined by Norm Augustine, then the head of Martin Marietta and an attendee at the dinner. The number of major defense contractors in the U.S. would decline from 51 to 5 in the following years, consolidating the industry into the "Big Five" by 1997. These were Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Boeing, General Dynamics, and Northrop Grumman, who, as of 2023, remain the top five contractors of the U.S. federal government. Although defense...

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