There are many zillions of defense contractors. Most of them are nonessential, small, or generic suppliers that are ordinary companies. A "strategic" defense co

There are many zillions of defense contractors. Most of them are nonessential, small, or generic suppliers that are ordinary companies. A "strategic" defense contractor is a much smaller subset of large corporations or sole-source providers of resources or critical subsystems deemed "essential", and so they are given more favorable deals, privileges, and shown direct and indirect political and economic favoritism at the legislative- and executive-branch levels. This allows them to get away with much larger incidents of malfeasance and crime that other companies and individuals would be prosecuted for. (MCAS took 2 planes to crash. 737 NG structural deficiencies post MD merger were never adequately addressed. The 787 has been riddled with problems.)