Analysis of the size, accessibility, and profitability of international defense sales in times of U.S. budget uncertainty

Immediately prior to and following cuts to the U.S. defense budget in 2013, executives and board members from Lockheed Martin, Boeing, BAE Systems, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, and General Dynamics specifically cited the need to increase international sales to make up for lost U.S. revenue. Some statements predict aggressive international growth in the immediate future, while others take a more moderate or long-term approach. The purpose of this paper is to assess whether the international defense market is sufficiently large, accessible, and profitable for U.S. defense companies to maintain or grow overall revenue and profitability in the face of static or shrinking defense budgets in the United States.