Lockheed Martin is the world's largest weapons contractor. The company received $17 billion in contracts from the Pentagon in fiscal year 2002, plus almost $2 billion for nuclear weapons design work from the Department of Energy. In the lead up to the war in Iraq, the company boasted a 36% jump in profits, with a 15% increase in military aircraft sales alone.

Lockheed Martin's significant global presence stems from its role as the world's largest arms exporting company. Its most lucrative export item is the F-16 combat aircraft, with more than 3,000 sold overseas since the mid-1970s. The company also makes the Hellfire missile, "bunker buster" munitions and the massive C-130 transport plane.

In late 2001, the company won what has been touted as "the largest defense contract in history," a $19 billion development contract for the $200 billion Joint Strike Fighter program. Plans call for producing variants of the JSF for the U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marines, as well as for the Navy and Air Force of the United Kingdom. Other countries that have been discussed as potential customers for this "world aircraft" are Germany, Turkey, and Israel.

Lockheed Martin's Weapons at War

Lockheed Martin's F-117 stealth attack fighters were part of the opening salvo of "Operation Iraqi Freedom," bombing "leadership targets" in Baghdad.

The company's Paveway II bomb, which is guided to its target by a sensor, saw its first widespread use in this war. Versions of the Paveway are built by both Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, which spent $15 million to gain certification to begin making its version of the bombs. The two companies received a $280 million order in mid-March to produce hundreds more of the weapons.

Lockheed Martin also makes a version of the Patriot missile, known as the PAC-3, designed to destroy incoming missiles by ramming into them. In early March, the Army granted Lockheed Martin a $100 million contract for 212 PAC-3 for use in Iraq. Later the same month, the Air Force announced it was ramping up production of the $91 million per copy missile, with a plan to increase production to 20 missiles per month in 2005.

Lockheed Martin is also positioning itself to reap the benefit of increased spending on "homeland security." James Wright, Vice President for Strategic Development, explains their hope that homeland security is a "long term effort and although [military] budgets will rise and fall, the budget for homeland security issues will rise overtime." A large modernization contract with the Coast Guard has morphed into a major effort for port, aviation and border security, securing the company a place in homeland security contracts for years to come.

Influence Peddling and War Making: Lockheed Martin's Political Connections

Lockheed Martin played a "behind the scenes" role in developing support for the Bush administration's war in Iraq. In 2002 the Coalition for the Liberation of Iraq was formed with the explicit support of the Bush administration. Former Lockheed Martin vice-president Bruce Jackson chairs the group, and he is joined by numerous other VIPS like former Secretary of State George Shultz and Senator John McCain. The group's worked to promote Bush's plan for war in Iraq.

Bruce Jackson's influence extends even further. In February 2003, the White House was feeling anti-war pressure from France, Germany and other members of what they derided as "Old Europe." A letter signed by 10 Central and Eastern European nations positioning themselves as the "New Europe," strongly supported Washington's war in Iraq, creating a spilt in Europe, that helped the Bush administration make a stronger case for war. Bruce Jackson, who has been working with the so-called Vilnius 10 since 2000 as they seek NATO membership, initiated and helped draft that statement.

Jackson, who also runs the Project on Transitional Democracies, is a long-time supporter and active proponent of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) expansion to include former Soviets states. In that capacity, he has helped open up a whole new market to Lockheed Martin's combat aircraft and weapons systems. And in January 2003, Jackson's work began to pay off as his former company and Poland signed a $3.5 billion contract for 48 F-16 fighter planes (which Poland will purchase with $3.8 billion in loans from the U.S.).

Lockheed Martin is the "leader of the PACs" -- Political Action Committees -- among U.S. weapons manufacturing firms. According to data assembled by the Center for Responsive Politics, the company made over $10.6 million in campaign contributions to candidates and party committees from 1990 to 2000, including $3.4 million in donations in the run-up to the year 2000 elections. The company's giving is steady now, with more than $2.2 million in donations in 2002.

Lockheed Martin Fund Facts

Lockheed Martin gets $105 from each U.S. Taxpayer and $228 from each U.S. household to support their weapons building endeavors. The company's effective 2002 tax rate was 7.7% compared to an average individual tax rate of 21-33%.

Lockheed Martin CEO Vance Coffman made $25,497,434 in 2002, or $98,000 PER DAY while the average Army private risking his or her life in Iraq is paid just $19,585- just above the national poverty rate.

Sources For More Info:
1. Center for Responsive Politics
2. Lockheed Martin
3. The Arms Trade Revealed