The Markup, now a part of CalMatters, uses investigative reporting, data analysis, and software engineering to challenge technology to serve the public good.
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Markup → use → good
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that → sign → inbox
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The business of military contracting is booming in Southern California.
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business → see → California
The total value of defense contracts won by companies in Los Angeles County more than doubled in the last 10 years after adjusting for inflation, according to an analysis by The Markup and CalMatters.
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value → win → Markup
In the same period, the defense budget rose by about 19% in adjusted dollars.
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budget → rise → dollars
The $15 billion in contracts won in LA County last year went largely to old-school defense contractors with headquarters elsewhere, like Boeing.
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billion → win → Boeing
But startups claimed a growing share of the pie, selling defense systems like low-cost missiles, drones, surveillance satellites, AI tools and much more.
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startups → claim → missiles
In 2025, 10 startups in the LA area were crowned “unicorns,” becoming companies valued by investments at more than $1 billion, according to the Los Angeles Business Journal.
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startups → crown → Journal
In 2015, 14 of the top 100 defense contracts won in California went to businesses focused on drones or space, according to the Markup and CalMatters analysis.
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14 → win → analysis
The shift is similar if measured by dollars, from 13%to 18%.
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shift → measure → %
Details like whether you count obligations for where businesses are based or where the projects are launched all affect those numbers.
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projects → count → numbers
The contracts have been kindled by a surge of venture capital.
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contracts → kindle → capital
Private investment in aerospace and defense since 2008 has fueled massive gains, according to a report from The Aerospace Corporation, a federally-funded nonprofit.
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investment → fuel → Corporation
But all the new money is now causing awkward political tensions.
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money → cause → tensions
The war in Iran, which has depleted American munitions, is poised to drive demand even higher.
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which → deplete → demand
The Trump administration’s latest budget proposal includes a record-setting $1.5 trillion for the military.
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proposal → include → military
Meanwhile, the Defense Department has signed off on the earliest contracts for the “Golden Dome,” a proposal to build a missile-defense system above the United States that may eventually cost hundreds of billions of dollars.
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that → sign → dollars
Most of the Golden Dome winners are based in or have ties to the Southern California area.
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Most → base → area
“You saw this huge rise in capital and now you’re seeing just much, much bigger government budgets for space,” said Sam Wilson, a researcher at the Aerospace Corporation.
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Wilson → see → Corporation
The collision of venture capital and military spending has alarmed some advocates, who see a frightening trend toward privatization and the risk of a space arms race.
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who → alarm → race
Even Congressional Democrats are pushing back against the spending.
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Democrats → push → spending
That’s noteworthy because it has tended “to be a bipartisan, equal effort to increase the budget” of the military, said Lindsay Koshgarian, director of the National Priorities Project, which tracks defense spending.
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which → ’ → spending
“I think we are maybe seeing the limits of that now.”
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we → think → that
Despite the pushback, some of the congressional districts that saw the largest defense contract increases in recent years are beneficiaries of signature Trump-era projects.
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that → see → projects
Many are in solidly blue Los Angeles County, and among the most Democrat-leaning districts in the country.
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Many → lean → country
California’s 36th Congressional District includes El Segundo, a high-tech defense hub outside Los Angeles.
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District → include → Angeles
In the district’s 2024 House race, incumbent Democrat Ted Lieu took nearly 70 percent of the vote over a Republican challenger.
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Lieu → take → challenger
Another district, California’s 43rd, is represented by Maxine Waters, who in 2021 signed on to the proposed No Militarization of Space Act, which described the Space Force as an unnecessary waste of resources and sought to abolish it.
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which → represent → it
Trump recently proposed to double the budget of the Space Force, another potential boon to the area.
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Trump → propose → area
Meanwhile, Waters’ district has seen its share of obligated defense department spending grow over the last decade by more than $1.6 billion, or more than 500%, adjusted for inflation.
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share → see → inflation
Waters’ office didn’t respond to a request for comment.
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office → respond → comment
Seamus Daniels, who studies the defense budget at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the proposed $1.5 trillion dollar defense budget for fiscal year 2027 “would surpass the peak of defense spending during World War II.”
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budget → study → II
The administration is seeking that money in place of traditional Democratic priorities, like healthcare funding, he points out.
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he → seek → funding
“The budget requests of the second Trump administration have been contentious because, while they have sought to increase defense spending dramatically, they’re also aiming to cut non-defense spending,” Daniels said.
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Daniels → seek → spending
Koshgarian said Democrats have largely been open to an increased defense budget, especially if it brings money to their congressional districts.
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it → say → districts
But that may be changing.
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that → change → ?
“That tension is definitely real, even in left districts,” she said.
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she → say → districts
“But I think we’re reaching a level of extremity now that that might be starting to flip.”
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that → think → extremity
There’s no question California has become a major player in defense technology.
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California → ’ → technology
Every year, the Silicon Valley Defense Group, an industry nonprofit promoting military technology, releases a list of the top 100 tech-forward national security companies.
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Group → promote → companies
…and 36 more, not listed.
