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

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)

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