If I remember right, top shareholders of many defense corporations like lockheed martin are composed primarily of wall street and financial groups. They design and build vastly inferior products which are selected by the armed forces for mass production due to lobbying of political figures rather than reliable, competent or proven defense concepts.
The reason its tough to get into the defense industry is, military contracts are handed out to those who funnel the most money into congress and the senate rather than who produces the best design or technology.
Unfortunately that's pretty much how the government contracting system works for the US military industrial complex. Thanks to WWII, where this started, things have gone in a downward spiral of corrupt contracts and red tape acquisition. Things need to change with the way the government does things.