The defense industry plays an important role in the industrial and economic development of countries. The technological innovations implemented within this industry generate important demands, such as skilled professionals and scientific and technological activities of various components of the production and innovation system at national level, as well as offering great potential for multiple applications in other industries as well as in society as a whole. That is, the technologies developed in the defense industry can have dual application and also be used in the civil industry, such as the Internet, GPS. The purpose of this study is to analyze how large economies, especially the United States, make successful defense R&D efforts. Expenditures in defense of a group of developed and emerging countries such as the United States and Brazil, as well as success stories of three major US institutions: Darpa, Pentagon, and Naval Research, were examined. Qualitative evidence, collected by the authors in the available literature, and quantitative, available in the OECD, SIPRI and NSF databases, were used. Countries in developed economies, especially the US, make major investments in the defense industry, which directly contributes to a scenario of technological development and innovation in these countries. The main American defense institutions have as their main characteristics: the presence of extremely skilled human capital, freedom in decision making, large percentages of government investment and the goal of generating a technological spillover to other sectors of the country. The research revealed that investments in projects in the defense industry should be stimulated in Brazil through public policies oriented to civil application. Therefore, the process of technological overflow contributes to a scenario of innovation in other industries in the country and boosts its technological and economic development.
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