U.S. MILITARY SPENDING, BY THE NUMBERS.

• Position: SMOKING GUN

As the planet hurtles headlong into climate chaos and millions of people's basic needs go unmet, there is one sector of the U.S. economy that is flush with cash: the military. Here are some metrics for spending by Uncle Sam on national defense:

$801 BILLION

Amount spent on defense by the United States in fiscal year 2021.

$777 BILLION

Amount spent that year by the next nine countries (China, India, the United Kingdom, Russia, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Japan, and South Korea) combined.

12 PERCENT

Share of total U.S. spending that went to defense in fiscal year 2022.

11 PERCENT

Share spent on education, training, employment, and social services combined.

$900 BILLION

Amount of discretionary spending earmarked for national defense and assistance to Ukraine for fiscal year 2023, in the appropriations bill passed last December.

$772 BILLION

Amount earmarked for all other discretionary spending.

TWICE AS MUCH

Ratio of U.S. defense spending per day in 2022 compared with its spending on international climate aid all year.

$80 MILLION

Current approximate cost of a single F-35 fighter jet.

450

Number of F-35 fighter planes the United States now has.

2,500

Number of F-35s it plans to have by 2040.

$18.9

BILLION

Amount of profit defense contractor Lockheed Martin, manufacturer of the F-35s, made just in 2020, 2021, and 2022.

$7.4

BILLION

Total value of military-grade equipment tunneled from the U.S. military to local

police departments since 1990.

$634

BILLION

Amount that the United States is projected to spend on nuclear forces between 2021 and 2030.

$10.1

TRILLION

Amount of money, in present-day terms, that the U.S. government spent on nuclear weapons between...