Lockheed Martin

Militarisation in the UK generally

'Militarisation' means the ways in which the presence and approaches of the military (typically state armed forces and Defence Ministries) are normalised in a society. Military solutions are prioritised, and the military is privileged in various ways.

A society has to be militarised for a government to justify the development and maintenance of nuclear weapons to its citizens; militarisation creates a culture of acceptance. It popularises military euphemisms such as 'Defence', 'Security', and – particularly relevant to nuclear weapons – 'deterrant', and makes it hard to for those challenging these to be seen as credible.

Tim Wright

Each year, the nine nuclear-armed nations spend a combined total of more than US$100 billion on their nuclear forces – assembling new warheads, modernizing old ones, and building ballistic missiles, bombers and submarines to deliver them. Much of this work is carried out by private corporations, which are financed by a vast web of financial institutions around the world.

30 November 2011, action in New York City

Each fall the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space organizes a week of local actions called Keep Space for Peace Week. This year events were held from October 1-8 and the theme chosen by our leadership was the expanding use of drones in U.S. wars in the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa.

Protest actions took place throughout the U.S. and in six other nations at major space weapons installations and factories like Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, and General Dynamics.

“What would you do if someone came to your door with a cup in hand asking for a contribution to help buy guns to kill a group of people they didn't like?”
— Wally Nelson

Wally Nelson was a resister during World War II, one of many U.S. pacifists who not only refused to kill but didn’t want to pay for it either. In 1942, Ernest Bromley refused to buy a “defense tax stamp” for his car because the money went to the war, and the U.S. government took him to court. He spent 60 days in jail for refusing $7.09 for stamps and a $25 fine imposed by the court.

Most Brigades of the Colombian Army receive military aid from the USA.

In addition units of Military Intelligence in Medellín, Bogota and Villavicencio received US funding. Various military radars are operated by US personnel, in addition to those operated by the Colombian Armed Forces. Seven military bases are operated in cooperation. This military cooperation should be seen in the context of US Direct Foreign Investment for “economic development” - in short, maintaining the status quo for the elites.

Each fall, in early October, the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space holds Keep Space for Peace Week. The purpose of the event is to increase global consciousness about the need to prevent the arms race from moving into space.

Indian acquisitions of military hardware are the hot topic in the global armaments bazaar. India is expected to spend around $30 billion on arms imports over the next few years. India is perhaps the world’s largest importer of armaments with annual expenditure of around $6 billion on this count, a sizeable proportion of India’s defence budget of $28 billion for 2009-10.

Over the last two years the Campagne tegen Wapenhandel (the Dutch Campaign Against Arms Trade) has been campaigning against the investments of pension funds in the arms industry. Dutch pension funds are very big investors: together they have 800 milliard Euro to invest. Part of this money goes into arms production. For example in the production of Hellfire missiles by Boeing and Lockheed Martin, in development of new nuclear weapons by Lockheed Martin and BAe, and also in cluster munition.

From May 12th to 14th, Brussels Expo hosted the ITEC exhibition (International Training and Education Conference) the annual top event for companies in the military training and simulation business. On the first day of the event, Vredesactie activists went in undercover and revealed controversial links. On May 13th, a delegation of politicians visited ITEC to make clear that an event like this is not welcome.


Booming business

While diplomats and lobbyists are preparing for the renewal of the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty and peace activists are preparing for a closure of European nuclear bases on april the 3th, the arms industry is making money of developing new nukes. These are the biggest profiteers making new NATO nukes:

For the US

Honeywell is one of the biggest global arms companies, although only 10% of its profits comes from arms. Honeywell produces equipment for simulated nuclear explosions. Such simulated explosion are essential to develop new nuclear weapons.

The verdict will be slow in coming. There are several things to be optimistic, shall we say, “hopeful,” about when it comes to confronting the corruption, fraud, waste, and deceit of war profiteers – and, not surprisingly, there are many reasons to doubt that we’ll see any real change after all. I am genuinely torn as to what to expect. If Obama follows through on his positive programs, life will be much more difficult for military contractors.