Economic Audit: Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin - Economic Audit

Audit phase: Economic | Target company: Lockheed Martin Corporation | Prepared: 11 July 2026

Authoritative Findings & International Legal Scrutiny

UN Special Procedures mandate holders sent a formal communication to Lockheed Martin CEO James Taiclet on 17 May 2024 raising concerns about arms transfers to Israel and possible connection to violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza, referencing UN expert statements on the bombing of hospitals and civilian infrastructure ¹. The Special Rapporteur’s report “From economy of occupation to economy of genocide” (A/HRC/59/23, 2 July 2025) states that Israel benefits from “the largest-ever defence procurement programme” for the F-35, “led by US-based Lockheed Martin,” alongside Leonardo S.p.A. and companies from eight other states ²³⁴. The same report states that science and technology departments serve as R&D hubs for military-industry collaboration involving “Elbit Systems, IAI, IBM and Lockheed Martin,” producing surveillance, crowd-control, urban-warfare, facial-recognition and targeted-killing tools “effectively tested on Palestinians” ²⁴. The report also documents that “from 2019 to 2024, MIT managed a Lockheed Martin Seed Fund connecting students to teams in Israel” ²⁴⁵.

A search of the OHCHR database of business enterprises linked to Israeli settlements (158 enterprises as of the September 2025 update) did not surface Lockheed Martin as a named entry in searchable or fetchable content; this is flagged as an evidence gap rather than a negative finding ⁶⁷⁸. Who Profits’ company-profile research states that GE supplies F110-GE-129 engines for Lockheed Martin F-16 jets used by the Israeli military, that Lockheed Martin “funds and is involved in the development of Israel’s ‘Iron Beam’ air defense system” and will eventually sell the system in the US market, and that Lockheed Martin is listed as a client of Controp Precision Technologies and Aeronautics Defense Systems ⁹. PAX’s June 2024 report “The Companies Arming Israel and Their Financiers” identifies Lockheed Martin as one of six of the world’s largest arms producers (with Boeing, General Dynamics, Leonardo, RTX and Rolls-Royce) that sold weapons or weapon systems to Israel between 2019 and 2023, a group for which European financial institutions provided EUR 36.1 billion in loans and underwriting and held EUR 26 billion in shares and bonds ¹⁰¹¹. Amnesty International’s September 2025 report “Confronting the Global Political Economy Enabling Israel’s Genocide, Occupation and Apartheid” states that “Lockheed Martin supplies and services F-16s and Israel’s growing fleet of F-35 combat aircraft - the backbone of the Israeli Air Force which have been used extensively during the bombardment of Gaza” ¹²¹³.

Attempted review of the Don’t Buy into Occupation (DBIO) coalition’s 2024 (58-company) and 2025 (104-company) settlement-linked company lists did not yield machine-readable confirmation or exclusion of Lockheed Martin; the 2025 edition is reported to have explicitly added Boeing for “provision of military equipment,” but no equivalent confirmation for Lockheed Martin was located ^1415161718. Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) documents that UK-made components comprise approximately 15% of every F-35 produced, valued at “well over UK£500 million” in Israel’s F-35 fleet; that Lockheed Martin has supplied C-130J transport aircraft and MLRS rocket systems to Israel; that F-16s were reportedly used with Silver Sparrow air-to-ground missiles in the September 2025 Doha strikes on Hamas officials; that Lockheed Martin has run the “Peace Marble V” industrial-collaboration program with roughly 40 Israeli companies since 2004; and that Lockheed Martin is named among “15 American companies contributing to Israel’s unlawful occupation, genocide or other crimes” per the 2025 Amnesty International report ¹⁹. Don’t Bank on the Bomb’s 2018 report on nuclear-weapon-producing companies names Lockheed Martin as a Trident/AWE-linked nuclear-weapons producer ²⁰. Separately, AFSC’s Investigate database profiles Lockheed Martin’s Israel-related activity, including its wholly-owned subsidiary Sikorsky’s manufacture of UH-60 Black Hawk and S-76 helicopters used by the Israeli military ²¹.

Supply Chain & Sourcing Relationships

Lockheed Martin’s Israel-facing supply chain is structured around government-to-government defense procurement rather than commercial or retail sourcing. No public evidence identified of direct supplier relationships with agricultural exporters (e.g., Mehadrin, Hadiklaim, Galilee Export, or Agrexco successors); such relationships would be outside the scope of a defense/aerospace manufacturer’s business model. In the defense-industrial context, Lockheed Martin Israel Ltd - registered in Tel Aviv in August 2014 - functions as the local corporate vehicle coordinating cybersecurity, IT, data-analytics and cloud work, as well as offset obligations under the Umbrella Industrial Cooperation Agreement (UICA) ²²²³²⁴. F-35 components are supplied through direct US government Foreign Military Sales (FMS) channels, with Lockheed Martin UK Integrated Systems (Havant, UK) documented as the registered sender in six of seven tracked shipments of F-35 components from RAF Marham to Israel between November 2023 and August 2024 ¹⁹²⁵. Lockheed Martin UK Ampthill Limited (Bedfordshire) separately assembles armoured vehicles within the wider Lockheed Martin supply chain and has been targeted by protest action over this role ¹⁹. No public evidence identified of seasonal sourcing patterns or third-party/indirect retail-distribution sourcing arrangements, as these categories are not applicable to Lockheed Martin’s business model.

Product Origin, Labeling & Regulatory Compliance

No public evidence identified of settlement-origin product labeling issues (e.g., “Produce of Israel” mislabeling), consumer country-of-origin labeling compliance concerns, or a corporate labeling policy governing sourcing from occupied or contested territories. These categories are not applicable to Lockheed Martin’s product lines, which consist of military aircraft, missiles and defense systems rather than consumer goods or agricultural produce.

Investment, Capital & Financial Exposure

Lockheed Martin has invested “over $4 billion” in Israel since first signing cooperation agreements in 2005, including “more than $470 million” since 2020, according to Jerusalem Post reporting on the UICA’s extension through 2029 ²⁶. Lockheed Martin Israel Ltd doubled its office space at Museum Tower, Tel Aviv, in late 2014 ²³²⁴. A joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Bynet Data Communications (reported value approximately $210 million) to build an IDF communications center in the Negev/Beersheba region (“Project 5/9”) is corroborated only by a single secondary aggregator and should be treated as provisional pending further verification ²⁴.

On R&D and innovation investment: Lockheed Martin announced a Beersheba research and development center in partnership with EMC, unveiled at Cyber Tech 2014, as part of the CyberSpark Advanced Technologies Park alongside IBM, Deutsche Telekom and RSA ²⁷²⁸²⁹. Lockheed Martin and Yissum, the technology-transfer company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, signed a research-collaboration agreement in October 2014 covering quantum information science and materials science, with Lockheed Martin granted an option for exclusive licenses to resulting inventions, work conducted partly at a Lockheed Martin lab in Beersheba ^24303132. The MIT–Lockheed Martin Seed Fund financed early-stage MIT–Israel academic collaborations and a student internship program from 2019 to 2024, and was discontinued in 2024 following a divestment campaign led by the MIT Coalition for Palestine ⁵³³³⁴.

On ownership: Lockheed Martin’s own largest disclosed shareholders are State Street (~14.5%), Vanguard (~9.2%) and BlackRock (~7.8%) - all US institutional asset managers, with insiders holding under 1% ³⁵. No public evidence identified within this research of these specific funds’ Israel-focused holdings being examined as a distinct exposure; a fund-level analysis of asset-manager holdings would fall outside this audit’s scope. No public evidence identified of Lockheed Martin’s corporate treasury holding Israeli-domiciled equities, Israeli sovereign bonds, or Israel-focused investment funds. Because Lockheed Martin is an industrial/defense operating company rather than a financial institution, No public evidence identified of it underwriting or lead-arranging Israeli sovereign debt, selling Israel Bonds (Development Corporation for Israel), or providing insurance underwriting or trade finance to Israeli defense primes.

Operational Presence & Market Activity

Lockheed Martin’s physical footprint in Israel comprises Lockheed Martin Israel Ltd offices at Museum Tower, Tel Aviv (registered August 2014, with expanded office space from late 2014), and a Beersheba R&D/technology presence via the CyberSpark hub and the Yissum partnership ²³²⁴²⁷. Lockheed Martin was also reported to be opening an Israel branch as early as July 2013 ²². No specific Israel workforce headcount is publicly disclosed in the sources reviewed; Lockheed Martin’s global headcount is reported at roughly 123,000–136,000 employees, but no Israel-specific breakdown was located. Lockheed Martin Israel CEO Tal Galor participated in the 2029 UICA extension signing ²⁶. CEO James Taiclet stated on an October 2023 investor call that Israel’s ~$3 billion order for 25 additional F-35s was a potential revenue driver ³⁶³⁷³⁸, and was reported in April 2026 to have told investors that the US-Israel war on Iran was a “golden opportunity” for the firm, with use of Lockheed Martin products “to protect Israel and US assets” cited as playing a role in retention ³⁹⁴⁰. Following the Iranian-linked “Stryker” data breach, a hacking group calling itself Handala reportedly threatened Lockheed Martin staff based in Israel, evidencing an active local operational and security presence ⁴¹.

Corporate Structure & Foundational Ties

Lockheed Martin was not founded in Israel. The company traces to 1912 US aviation lineages (the Loughead brothers’ Lockheed Aircraft Company and the Glenn L. Martin Company) and took its current form via the 1995 merger of Lockheed Corporation and Martin Marietta ⁴². Corporate headquarters remain in North Bethesda, Maryland, USA, with no dual or legacy Israeli headquarters; the Tel Aviv office functions as a subsidiary office, not a headquarters ⁴²²³. Lockheed Martin Israel Ltd is a wholly-owned, greenfield subsidiary established in 2014, not an acquisition of a pre-existing Israeli company ²³²²²⁴. No public evidence identified that Lockheed Martin has acquired or holds a controlling stake in any pre-existing Israeli operating company - manufacturer, consumer brand, pharmaceutical/biotech, cyber/tech, food, or infrastructure firm.

State and institutional linkages are substantial: the Umbrella Industrial Cooperation Agreement with Israel’s Industrial Cooperation Authority was signed in 2005, renewed in 2020, and extended through 2029, with 35% of new contract value contractually reinvested in Israeli industry ²⁶⁴³. Lockheed Martin Israel and the Israel Ministry of Defense’s Production and Procurement Department signed an F-35 maintenance agreement covering ten years of operation and maintenance of the training center at Nevatim air base, including ALIS logistics-support systems ⁴⁴. The “Peace Marble V” offset program with roughly 40 Israeli companies was completed in November 2004 at a value of $1.45 billion ¹⁹⁴⁵. Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) holds an F-35 wing-production contract valued at approximately $2.5 billion for more than 800 wing pairs through 2034 ⁴⁵⁴⁶⁴⁷. Lockheed Martin and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems announced a collaboration on a high-energy laser system in December 2022 ⁴⁸, and Lockheed Martin subsequently joined the Iron Beam project to build a variant of the system for the US market ⁴⁹⁹. No golden shares, founder super-votes, or charter provisions tying Lockheed Martin to the Israeli state were identified; the company operates a standard one-share-one-vote public governance structure ⁵⁰⁵¹.

Profit Repatriation & Economic Contribution

No specific Israel-market revenue percentage or dollar figure was identified in Lockheed Martin’s FY2025 Form 10-K or investor materials reviewed ⁵⁰. The capital-flow structure documented is outbound rather than repatriative: a US parent investing into Israel through its subsidiary, R&D partnerships and offset obligations, rather than an Israeli-domiciled entity generating profits for repatriation to Israel. The UICA’s requirement that 35% of new contract value be reinvested in Israeli industry constitutes a recurring, outbound-into-Israel capital flow tied to Lockheed Martin’s Israel-directed export contracts ²⁶. Lockheed Martin is described as a Fortune 500 anchor investor in Israel’s Beersheba CyberSpark hub, alongside IBM, Deutsche Telekom and RSA ²⁷²⁸²⁹, and IAI’s Lockheed-linked F-35 wing-production line is characterized as a major, ongoing manufacturing program within Israel’s aerospace sector, with 350 of a planned 800+ wing pairs delivered as of February 2026 ⁴⁶⁴⁷⁵². A U.S. Army contract awarded to Lockheed Martin in September 2025 - $9.8 billion to expand PAC-3 MSE interceptor production - cited foreign military sales, including to allies such as Israel, as driving 94% of a related $4.7 billion PAC-3 contract, indicating continuing Israel-linked revenue flow into Lockheed Martin’s production base ⁵³.

Controlling Principals & Governance

CEO and Chairman James Taiclet has publicly framed Israel-related conflict as a commercial driver on two documented occasions: the October 2023 investor call referencing Israel’s ~$3 billion order for 25 F-35s ³⁶³⁷³⁸, and April 2026 remarks describing the US-Israel war on Iran as a “golden opportunity” ³⁹⁴⁰. Board composition includes individuals with career defense/security backgrounds, including retired Marine Lt. Gen. Vincent R. Stewart (former DIA Director and deputy commander, US Cyber Command), Adm. John C. Aquilino (former commander, US Indo-Pacific Command), Dr. Heather Wilson (former US Air Force Secretary, 2017–2019) and Jeh C. Johnson (former US Secretary of Homeland Security) ⁵⁴⁵⁵. No public evidence identified of these directors’ or the CEO’s personal or family-office investments in Israeli companies specifically, beyond their documented defense-sector government and military career backgrounds. Shareholder-governance activity includes a stockholder proposal (filed via SEC Form PX14A6G by the Sisters/Investor Advocates for Social Justice) seeking alignment of Lockheed Martin’s political activities with its Human Rights Policy, which the board rejected in March 2025 ⁵⁶⁵⁷⁵⁸; JLens Network separately urged shareholders to vote against the proposal ⁵⁹. Protesters have called for Taiclet’s removal from the board of Mass General Brigham hospital system over Lockheed Martin’s Israel-related arms sales ⁵⁶⁵⁷. [Note: footnote numbers 57–59 above cross-reference both the proxy-vote and MGB-protest reporting per the source set below.]

Group Attribution & Subsidiary Conduct

Sikorsky Aircraft, a wholly-owned Lockheed Martin subsidiary, was contracted by Israel’s Ministry of Defense to pay “hundreds of millions of dollars” to integrate Israeli systems onto 12 CH-53K heavy-lift helicopters, building a separate production line to Israeli Air Force specifications, reported March 2025 ⁶⁰. AFSC’s Investigate database documents that Sikorsky manufactures UH-60 Black Hawk and S-76 helicopters used by the Israeli military ²¹. Lockheed Martin UK Integrated Systems (Havant) was the registered sender in six of seven documented shipments of F-35 components from RAF Marham to Israel between November 2023 and August 2024 ¹⁹²⁵. Lockheed Martin UK Ampthill Limited assembles armoured vehicles within the group’s supply chain and has been the target of protest action ¹⁹.

Constructive Notice - Continuing Activity

Several data points evidence an active, continuing commercial relationship with Israel well after the ICJ’s 19 July 2024 Advisory Opinion and the ICC’s November 2024 arrest warrants. IAI delivered its 350th F-35 wing to Lockheed Martin, reported February 2026 ⁴⁶⁴⁷. The U.S. Army awarded Lockheed Martin a $9.8 billion PAC-3 MSE contract in September 2025, with FMS to allies including Israel cited as a major driver ⁵³. The Sikorsky/Israel MoD CH-53K integration agreement was reported in March 2025 ⁶⁰. Dutch Supreme Court proceedings in October 2025 over F-35 parts exports to Israel, and a UK High Court ruling in June/July 2025 permitting continued F-35 parts exports, confirm the F-35 supply relationship remained legally contested and operationally active through late 2025 ^6162636465. CEO Taiclet’s April 2026 “golden opportunity” remarks confirm the commercial relationship framing continued into 2026 ³⁹⁴⁰. The UICA extension through 2029, attended by Lockheed Martin Israel CEO Tal Galor, represents a forward-dated institutional commitment spanning the post-Advisory-Opinion, post-arrest-warrant period ²⁶.

Settlement Nexus

No public evidence identified of Lockheed Martin operations, sales, listings, services, sourcing, or distribution occurring directly in or to West Bank (including East Jerusalem) or Golan Heights settlements, whether via licensees, franchisees, subsidiaries, or private-label brands. Lockheed Martin’s Israel-facing business is structured as government-to-government/government-to-business defense procurement (IDF, Ministry of Defense, IAI), not retail or settlement-based commerce ¹⁹²³. Weapons systems supplied by Lockheed Martin - F-35s, F-16s and Hellfire-related systems - are documented as used in Israeli military operations in Gaza (occupied Palestinian territory), which is distinct from a settlement retail/reseller nexus but relevant to the broader occupation-economy framing of A/HRC/59/23 ^212132166.

End Notes