Speaking Security

Share this post

Defense industry lobbying is (mostly) subsidized by the public, a breakdown

stephensemler.substack.com

Defense industry lobbying is (mostly) subsidized by the public, a breakdown

Speaking Security Newsletter | Advisory Note for Organizers and Candidates, n°53 | 22 October 2020

Stephen Semler
Oct 22, 2020
2
Share this post

Defense industry lobbying is (mostly) subsidized by the public, a breakdown

stephensemler.substack.com

Situation

Third quarter (July-Sept 2020) lobbying updates from defense industry giants (via Politico):

  • Boeing: $3 million

  • Lockheed Martin: $2.9 million

  • General Dynamics: $2.7 million

  • Raytheon: $2.2 million

  • Northrop Grumman: $2 million

Context - Lockheed Martin

Q3 will take Lockheed’s (producer of the F-35) lobbying expenditures to about $10 million so far in 2020:

^Source


Mostly your money

It’s fair to say that about 70 percent ($7 million) of Lockheed’s 2020 lobbying expenditures (~$10 million, so far) is subsidized by the public. Below is a breakdown of Lockheed’s total revenue for 2019 ($58.1 billion). About 70 percent ($40.7 billion) came from DOD contracts (that are funded by the DOD budget, i.e., public funds).

^Source

Conclusion

Revenue breakouts vary from year-to-year, but typically top defense contractors (listed above) are subsidized to roughly the same extent. For example in 2018, 80 percent of Northrop Grumman’s ‘sales’ came from DOD contracts.

Thanks for your time,

Stephen (@stephensemler; stephen@securityreform.org)

Find this note useful? Please consider becoming a supporter of SPRI. Unlike establishment think tanks, we rely exclusively on small donations.

Share this post

Defense industry lobbying is (mostly) subsidized by the public, a breakdown

stephensemler.substack.com
TopNew

No posts

Ready for more?

© 2023 Stephen Semler
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start WritingGet the app
Substack is the home for great writing