The military-industrial complex is now run by women. https://t.co/Ppa32f9hUO — MSNBC (@MSNBC) January 3, 2019

Peak MSNBC: This blood-soaked capitalist machinery of corporate profiteering from mass death and unspeakable destruction is now run by women!



Intersectional imperialismhttps://t.co/3zg3W4zprH — Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) January 4, 2019

From the executive leadership of top weapons-makers, to the senior government officials designing and purchasing the nation's military arsenal, the United States' national defense hierarchy is, for the first time, largely run by women.



As of Jan. 1, the CEOs of four of the nation's five biggest defense contractors -- Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and the defense arm of Boeing -- are now women. And across the negotiating table, the Pentagon's top weapons buyer and the chief overseer of the nation's nuclear stockpile now join other women in some of the most influential national security posts, such as the nation's top arms control negotiator and the secretary of the Air Force.



It's a watershed for what has always been a male-dominated bastion, the culmination of decades of women entering science and engineering fields and knocking down barriers as government agencies and the private sector increasingly weigh merit over machismo.

“To me, it’s a national security issue: We need every mind, every person engaged — male, female, every race, every level of experience,” said Lynn Dugle, a former vice president at Raytheon who is now CEO of Engility, an engineering and IT services firm that did more than $750 million of business with defense and intelligence agencies last year. “In the long term, we need to make sure talent wins."