The Federal Government Obligated $64 Billion to Lockheed Martin in One Year. What Was It Buying?

Between August 19, 2025 and August 18, 2026, the federal government obligated approximately $64 billion to Lockheed Martin, according to federal spending data compiled by The Paper Trail Project.

That does not mean Lockheed Martin received a $64 billion check.

An obligation is a legal commitment by the federal government to spend money. Payments, or outlays, can occur later as work is completed. But obligations give us a useful measure of how much federal spending the government committed to a company during a given period.

And in Lockheed Martin's case, nearly all of it came from one place: the U.S. military.

Nearly $62.4 billion came from the Pentagon

Of the roughly $64 billion in federal obligations Paper Trail recorded for Lockheed Martin during the one-year period, $62.36 billion — about 97.4% — came from the Department of Defense.

NASA was a distant second, accounting for approximately $1.44 billion.

Other agencies represented comparatively tiny portions of the total. The Department of Commerce obligated about $108 million, the Department of Homeland Security about $104 million, and the Department of Transportation roughly $28 million.

In other words, Lockheed Martin's relationship with the federal government is overwhelmingly a relationship with the Pentagon.

That dependence runs in both directions. In its 2025 annual report, Lockheed Martin reported that 72% of its consolidated sales came from the U.S. government, including 63% from the Department of Defense.

So what does the government actually buy from Lockheed Martin?

There isn't one $64 billion “Lockheed contract.” Federal spending flows through thousands of transactions tied to different contracts, modifications and programs.

Lockheed Martin operates across four major business areas: Aeronautics, Missiles and Fire Control, Rotary and Mission Systems, and Space. Those businesses produce fighter aircraft, missile-defense systems, helicopters, radar and maritime systems, satellites, spacecraft and other defense technology.

Some of the largest contracts appearing in Paper Trail's federal records show the scale of those programs.

F-35 fighter aircraft

The F-35 is Lockheed Martin's largest program.

One F-35 production contract currently recorded by Paper Trail has accumulated approximately $12.3 billion in obligations since it began in 2015. Another F-35 production contract has accumulated about $10.6 billion.

A separate contract for global F-35 air-system sustainment has accumulated approximately $8 billion in obligations.

These figures are cumulative values for individual awards across multiple years. They are not amounts obligated solely during the one-year period analyzed here.

The program is enormous even within Lockheed Martin itself: the company reported that the F-35 accounted for approximately 27% of its sales in 2025.

Missile defense and precision weapons

Federal spending also supports several major Lockheed Martin missile programs.

A contract for production of the PAC-3, a missile used with the Patriot air-and-missile-defense system, has accumulated approximately $10.2 billion in obligations. The contract includes missile production as well as associated hardware, equipment, facilities and technical work.

Another contract connected to production of THAAD interceptors — part of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile-defense system — has accumulated roughly $9.1 billion.

A newer contract for large-lot procurement of the Long Range Anti-Ship Missile and Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile has accumulated approximately $7.2 billion in obligations.

Again, these figures represent cumulative contract obligations across multiple years. They illustrate the kinds of goods and programs associated with Lockheed Martin's federal awards; they should not be added together and treated as a breakdown of the $64 billion one-year total.

The government also pays Lockheed Martin to build things in space

Not all of Lockheed Martin's federal business involves conventional weapons.

One major Space Force contract shown in Paper Trail's records is for the Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared satellite program. The contract, covering geosynchronous missile-warning spacecraft, has accumulated approximately $7.5 billion in obligations since 2018.

NASA also accounted for approximately $1.44 billion of Lockheed Martin's obligations during Paper Trail's one-year window.

Across the federal government, Lockheed Martin's work therefore stretches from fighter aircraft and missile interceptors to satellites, spacecraft, sustainment, research and technical support.

$64 billion is a commitment, not a profit figure

There are a few important limitations to keep in mind.

First, federal obligations are not the same as cash payments. The government records an obligation when it commits funds; the actual money may be paid over time.

Second, a contract's total obligated value is not necessarily what the government spent on that program during the year covered by this analysis. Many Lockheed Martin contracts began years ago and continue receiving modifications and additional funding.

Third, the approximately $64 billion figure represents prime-award transaction obligations associated with Lockheed Martin in the federal data captured by Paper Trail for August 19, 2025 through August 18, 2026. It should not be interpreted as Lockheed Martin's profit, revenue or cash received during that period.

What $64 billion tells us

The striking part is not simply that Lockheed Martin sells military equipment.

It is the scale of the relationship.

In a single twelve-month period, federal agencies committed approximately $64 billion to one corporation, with more than 97 cents of every dollar coming from the Department of Defense. At the same time, Lockheed Martin itself reports that nearly three-quarters of its sales come from the U.S. government.

That makes Lockheed Martin a useful case study in how extensively private contractors are embedded in federal programs.

The next question is not simply how much does Lockheed Martin receive?

It is:

Where does that money go once you follow the contracts?