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Jul 253 min read

RIMPAC: where U.S. companies profit on violence against lands, waters, women, and girls

Håfa adai,


Every 2 years, the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) war exercises increase violence against Kānaka Maoli women and girls, endangered species, and sacred lands and waters, and the U.S. government and U.S. companies profit. In our latest post, we dive into the military-industrial complex, war technologies tested this year at RIMPAC (and who made them), and which multibillion-dollar corporations profit most. 


ICYMI: Check out our first post and reel on RIMPAC. 


Did you know? 

  • U.S. tax dollars line the pockets of billionaire weapons manufacturers every year via the military-industrial complex. In FYTD 2024, the U.S. government has spent $644 billion on the military. In FY2023, that amount was $828.9 billion. 

  • RTX’s products are part of 90% of all military space launches. 

  • 96% of Lockheed Martin’s revenue in 2023 came from U.S. military contracts. The company made $67.6 billion in net sales in 2023.

  • While most of the U.S. military’s payments to weapons companies still go towards these more traditional weapons manufacturers (like Boeing, RTX, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and General Dynamics), the military is increasingly paying Big Tech companies (Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Oracle, IBM) billions of dollars for AI, software, and other technologies. Some estimates claim the 2018-2022 tech contracts totaled at least $28 billion. 


RIMPAC is still happening right now. RIMPAC allows militaries around the world to test U.S.-made tools of war, profiting the federal government and weapons manufacturers. Multibillion-dollar companies, like Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, use the Pacific as a global stage to demonstrate and market their weapons and military systems. In 2018, the U.S. military started RIMPAC with a 4-day fair featuring nearly 2 dozen booths and demonstrations of new war technology, such as VR, drones, robotics, and data and information exchange. In 2020, Congress approved $110 billion in weapons sales to other countries, $87 billion of which went to Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Raytheon. From 2015-2020, 37% of global arms exports came from the U.S. This year’s RIMPAC again displayed war technology like missiles produced by Raytheon and military aircraft made by Lockheed Martin and Boeing. 


Every 2 years, militaries from around the world convene at RIMPAC. They contaminate the Pacific with massive warships purposely sunk to the bottom of the ocean, carcinogens, weapons debris, and sonar. They desecrate sacred lands and waters with bullets and missiles. They commit acts of sexual and gendered violence against Native Hawaiian women and girls. They repeatedly affront Native Hawaiian sovereignty, self-determination, and safety. All these unquantifiable and repeated harms. And all to the monetary profit of the U.S. government and multibillionaires. 


What you can do: 

 

In Solidarity,

Kyra Blas, Esq.

WPLC Legal Fellow

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