http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?list=type&type=9Lockheed Martin
The world's #1 military contractor, responsible for the U-2 and SR-71 spy planes, F-16, F/A-22 fighter jet, and Javelin missiles. They've also made millions through insider trading, falsifying accounts, and bribing officials.
CEO: Robert J. Stevens
Military contracts 2005: $19.4 billion
Total contributions for the 2004 election cycle: $2,212,836*
This Bethesda, Maryland-based company is the world's #1 military contractor as well as the world’s largest arms exporter. Lockheed Martin built the U-2 and the SR-71 Blackbird spy planes. Today they make F-16, F/A-22 jet fighter, Hellfire and Javelin missiles, as well as designing nuclear weapons. Its F-117 stealth attack fighters were used to “shock and awe” the population of Iraq at the start of the US invasion, while since the start of that war the Air Force has increased production of Lockheed’s PAC-3 Patriot missile – which cost $91 million per copy.
According to the Arms Trade Resource Center, Lockheed Martin gets $105 from each U.S. taxpayer and $228 from each U.S. household. In 2002 the company was effectively taxed at 7.7% compared to an average tax rate for individuals of 21-33%.
In late 2001 the company was awarded the world's largest weapons contract ever, a $200 billion deal to build the Joint Strike Fighter, a "next-generation" combat jet that eventually will replace aircraft used by the Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. In the last few years the SEC has investigated Lockheed for insider trading and falsifying their accounts.
Lockheed Martin did not win the contract on force of personality alone, or fighter plane design. During the calendar year 2000, Lockheed Martin spent more than $9.8 million lobbying members of Congress and the Clinton administration, more than double the $4.2 million the company spent during 1999. Among the company's newest lobbyists: Haley Barbour, the former chairman of the Republican National Committee. During the 1999-2000 election cycle, Lockheed Martin contributed just over $2.7 million in soft money, PAC and individual contributions to federal candidates and parties. More than two-thirds of that money went to Republicans. Lockheed Martin spends more on lobbying Congress than any of its competitors, spending a whopping $9.7 million in 2002. Only General Electric and Philip Morris reported more lobbying expenses. And in the 2004 election cycle, Lockheed contributed more than $1.9 million.
Lockheed has also been able to exercise its influence in a larger way – in support of the invasion of Iraq. The company’s former vice-president Bruce Jackson chaired the Coalition for the Liberation of Iraq, a bipartisan group formed to promote Bush’s plan for war in Iraq. Bruce Jackson was also involved in corralling the support for the war from Eastern European countries, going so far as helping to write their letter of endorsement for military intervention. Not surprisingly, Lockheed also has business relations with these countries. In 2003 Poland shelled out $3.5 billion for 48 F-16 fighter planes, which it was able to buy with a $3.8 billion loan from the US.
In 1976 Lockheed paid millions of dollars to Japanese government officials to smooth the way for the sale of Lockheed's airplanes to a Japanese airline corporation, All Nippon Airways. They paid Japanese gangster and yakuza chief Kodama Yoshio $2.1 million in payoffs to help them sell their new wide-bodied passenger airplane, the TriStar L1011, against stiff competition from Boeing and McDonnell-Douglas. Kodama relied on familiar yakuza techniques to force the resignation of Tetsuo Oba, president of All Nippon Airways. At a stockholders' meeting, Kodama packed the room with "sokaiya" -- financial specialists -- who leaked information about an illegal $1 million loan which had been paid to Oba. In disgrace, ANA's president stepped down to be replaced by a candidate favorable to Kodama's interests.
The former prime minister, the former minister of transportation, and the former parliamentary vice-minister of transportation were arrested and prosecuted. The former prime minister was sentenced to four years imprisonment with forced labor but he died while the case was in the Supreme Court.
*Source: opensecrets.org
Links
Lockheed Martin
Arms Trade Resource Center
Taxpayers for Common Sense
CANADA: Our side of defence
by Jorge Barrera, The Ottawa Times
August 20th, 2006
Ottawa may have the reputation of a government town, but it's also home to Canada's military-industrial complex.
Intelligence in Iraq: L-3 Supplies Spy Support
by Pratap Chatterjee, Special to CorpWatch
August 9th, 2006
L-3 Communications, a little-known but gigantic military contractor, provides 300 contract intelligence experts to the Pentagon in Iraq to support operations ranging from interrogation to media analysis. The secretive $426.5 million operation, which is run out of Virginia, may be a recipe for disaster, say critics.
Also see related story, A Translator's Tale, by Pratap Chatterjee.
A Translator's Tale
by Pratap Chatterjee, Special to CorpWatch
August 9th, 2006
Goran Habbeb was shot and left for dead by gunmen in Iraq for helping troops in counter-intelligence tasks. He worked for Titan, a military contractor, who supply translators to the military under a profitable multi-billion dollar contract. Almost 200 of their workers have been killed, the highest by far of any contractor in Iraq.
US: Federal contracts up 86% under Bush; Halliburton rises 600%
Raw Story
June 20th, 2006
Top contractor Lockheed got contracts larger than budget of Congress, Dept. of Interior
US: Bush Turns to Big Military Contractors for Border Control
by Eric Lipton, The New York Times
May 18th, 2006
The quick fix may involve sending in the National Guard. But to really patch up the broken border, President Bush is preparing to turn to a familiar administration partner: the nation's giant military contractors.
US: Boeing-Lockheed Granted Monopoly
by Andy Pasztor and Jonathan Karp, Wall Street Journal
January 7th, 2006
The Pentagon has given preliminary approval to a joint venture between Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. for military-rocket launches, endorsing a rare monopoly that could set a precedent for defense contractors facing slower military spending, said industry and government officials.
US: Lockheed Wins $869 Mln US Navy Missile Contract
Reuters
December 20th, 2005
The U.S. Navy on Tuesday said it awarded Lockheed Martin Corp. an $869 million contract to fund continued production of Trident II submarine-launched ballistic missiles in fiscal year 2006.
Meet the New Interrogators: Lockheed Martin
by Pratap Chatterjee, Special to CorpWatch
November 4th, 2005
Sytex, a subsidiary of Lockheed , the world's largest military contractor, has emerged as one of the biggest recruiters of private interrogators deployed to the United States-run prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan.
US: Lockheed Martin Is Hired to Bolster Transit Security in N.Y.
by Sewell Chan and Shadi Rahimi, The New York Times
August 23rd, 2005
A new world of transit security in New York City began to take form this morning, as officials disclosed plans to saturate the transit system with 1,000 video cameras, 3,000 motion detectors and a wide array of sophisticated gadgets, all intended to buffer the city's subways, bridges and tunnels from a terror attack.
US: Business booming for U.S. defense contractors
by Peter Bauer, Menafn
August 20th, 2005
U.S. defence contractors are riding high these days, buoyed by rising Pentagon spending on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the high cost of homeland security in the U.S.-declared war on terror. The fiscal 2006 defence budget is set to climb to 441 billion dollars, an increase of 21 billion dollars over 2005. It envisions an additional 50 billion dollars for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
BELGIUM: Activists Occupy Lockheed Martin Office
FOR Mother Earth
February 22nd, 2005
A group of 13 anti-nuclear activists occupied the European headquarters of US arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin,in Brussels, in protest against the company’s close links with the Bush government, and specifically its production of nuclear weapons and weapons ued in the war against Iraq.
US: Titan to Pay Fine and Plead Guilty in Bribery Probe
by Jonathon Karp and Andy Pasztor, Wall Street Journal
January 20th, 2005
Defense contractor Titan corporation tentatively agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges and pay less than $30 million to end investigations by the Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission. As part of the settlement, Titan will admit that payments by its overseas consultants violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
US: Lockheed, BAE protest Boeing pacts
by Jonathan Karp and Andy Pasztor, Wall Street Journal
October 13th, 2004
US: Jets, IT Drive Lockheed Gains
by Renae Merle, Washington Post
April 28th, 2004
Lockheed Martin Corp. reported a 16 percent jump in first-quarter profit yesterday as demand for fighter aircraft and information technology continued to boost sales.
US: Diminished Oversight Leads to Overpricing
by David Phinney, Federal Times
April 5th, 2004
Ken Pedeleose’s eyes popped in awe as he plowed through a bill for airplane parts in 1999: $2,522 for a 4½-inch metal sleeve, $744 for a washer, $714 for a rivet, and $5,217 for a 1-inch metal bracket.
US: Lockheed's New CEO Facing Tough Challenge
by Renae Merle, Washington Post
March 8th, 2004
Robert J. Stevens, who will become chief executive of Lockheed Martin Corp. in August, is taking over from Vance D. Coffman as a rising federal budget threatens to slow defense spending, Pentagon views of high-tech warfare shift and Lockheed continues to have problems with two high-profile programs: the F/A-22 and F-35 fighter jets.
World: Making Money on Terrorism
by William Hartung, Nation
February 23rd, 2004
We all know that Halliburton is raking in billions from the Bush Administration's occupation and rebuilding of Iraq. But in the long run, the biggest beneficiaries of the Administration's "war on terror" may be the "destroyers," not the rebuilders. The nation's "Big Three" weapons makers--Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Northrop Grumman--are cashing in on the Bush policies of regime change abroad and surveillance at home.
US: Pentagon's Changing Priorities Challenge Lockheed
by Renae Merle, Washington Post
February 23rd, 2004
Lockheed's stranglehold on the military aircraft market is based on two planes, the F/A-22 Raptor and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, both frequently lambasted by members of Congress for their technological problems and growing budgets. While Lockheed dominates the fighter market, it is not secure with unmanned drones, which many experts consider the future of military aviation. And the Pentagon is thinking about radical new ways of changing warfare that could threaten Lockheed's dominance.
US: Presidential Helicopter War
by John Machacek, Gannett News Service
February 17th, 2004
Lockheed Martin, one of the world's largest aerospace and defense contractors, had begun running full-page ads in newspapers and at subway stops near the Pentagon as part of an all-out lobbying campaign to oust tiny Sikorsky as the presidential helicopter builder.
US: Making Money On Terrorism
by William D. Hartung, The Nation
February 5th, 2004
We all know that Halliburton is raking in billions from the Bush Administration's occupation and rebuilding of Iraq. But in the long run, the biggest beneficiaries of the Administration's "war on terror" may be the "destroyers," not the rebuilders. The nation's "Big Three" weapons makers--Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Northrop Grumman--are cashing in on the Bush policies of regime change abroad and surveillance at home.
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