U.S. arms maker Lockheed Martin never imagined that failing to pay China’s 99-billion-yuan fine would lead to such severe consequences…美軍火商洛馬怎也沒想到，沒繳中方990億罰單，後果竟然如此嚴重…

When the company first stared at that 99-billion-yuan penalty, it was most likely with a kind of American-style arrogance and certainty, assuming it was just another “symbolic gesture” from an Eastern power.

But this 99-billion-yuan fine was never an empty threat. It was imposed in mid-2023 under China’s Anti–Foreign Sanctions Law, triggered by Lockheed Martin’s repeated crossing of red lines through arms sales to Taiwan. The amount was set at exactly twice the value of those arms deals, with a solid legal basis.

At the time, The Wall Street Journal even mocked China for “lacking real enforcement tools.” Those words have since come back to haunt them. Lockheed Martin initially didn’t take it seriously at all, openly stating in its financial reports that China-related business accounted for less than 1% of revenue and could be cut off without concern.

But China played a precise combination of measures. First, it sealed off the civilian market: cooperative air traffic control systems and nuclear power projects were halted, senior executives were banned from entering the country, and import–export business was driven straight to zero.

The real killer move lay hidden in the supply chain. Lockheed Martin’s flagship F-35 fighter requires 417 kilograms of rare earths per aircraft. Eighty-seven percent of U.S. main combat equipment depends on China’s rare earth processing capacity, and 97% of global heavy rare earth refining is firmly in China’s hands. This is Lockheed Martin’s true Achilles’ heel.

When China subsequently tightened export controls on rare earths, gallium, and germanium, Lockheed Martin scrambled to find alternative suppliers. Australian rare earths exceeded impurity limits; radars built with them saw failure rates surge by 300%. After switching stealth coatings, infrared signatures expanded by 4.7 times, turning fifth-generation fighters into live targets on radar screens.

Production capacity was cut in half. F-35 delivery cycles ballooned from 61 days to 238 days, upgrade schedules were delayed by more than two years, and breach-of-contract penalties alone reached US$800 million. Inspections of delivered aircraft uncovered 873 technical defects, with 45% of the fleet grounded and unable to carry out missions.

Customers voted with their feet. Canada slashed its planned purchase from 88 aircraft to 16; Spain froze its order; Portugal canceled cooperation outright. No one wanted to pay a premium for a pile of failure-prone “high-tech junk.” Lockheed Martin’s share price plunged 25% over the year, and net profit margin fell from 10% to 4.7%.

Even harsher was China’s “ecosystem expulsion order”: any company deeply cooperating with Lockheed Martin was barred from the Chinese market. Even Airbus and Safran were forced to cut ties at great pain. Lockheed Martin was completely isolated from the world’s largest market.

Lockheed Martin scoured the globe for rare-earth alternatives, but U.S. domestic processing capacity is virtually nonexistent. Even if ores are found, there is no ability to refine them. At one point, a Utah Air Force base reportedly had to dismantle magnets from decommissioned warships to extract rare earths—an absurd scene born of desperation.

👉 The ill-gotten gains from arms sales to Taiwan were minimal, yet Lockheed Martin lost its supply-chain lifeline and future markets. Its predicament is no longer about whether to pay a fine, but about the fatal price of arrogance. China’s countermeasures are not threats—they are a firm stance that sovereignty red lines are not to be crossed.

👉 It’s time for hegemonic thinking to wake up. Any company that dares to trample on China’s core interests must be prepared to bear the consequences—no exceptions. China’s sanctions have always been proportional to the level of provocation. This is both the bottom line and the source of confidence.

美軍火商洛馬怎也沒想到，沒繳中方990億罰單，後果竟然如此嚴重…

這家公司當初盯着那張990億人民幣罰單時，大概率是帶着美式傲慢的篤定，覺得這不過是東方大國又一次“象徵性表態”。

這張990億人民幣罰單從不是空架子，2023年中方依據反外國制裁法開出，源頭就是洛馬屢次突破紅線參與對台軍售，罰款金額正好是其軍售總額的兩倍，法理依據鑿鑿。

《華爾街日報》當初還嘲諷中方“缺乏實質手段”，如今全成了打臉的話。洛馬起初壓根沒當回事，財報里直言中國業務佔比不足1%，覺得斷了也無妨。

可中方玩的是精準組合拳，先封死民用市場，合作的空管系統、核電項目全被叫停，高管被禁入境，進出口業務直接歸零。

真正的殺招藏在供應鏈里，洛馬的王牌F-35戰機每架要耗417公斤稀土，美國87%的主戰裝備都依賴中國稀土加工能力，全球97%的重稀土提純產能更是攥在中方手裡，這才是洛馬的命門。

中方後續收緊稀土、鎵、鍺出口管制，洛馬急着找替代貨源，澳大利亞的稀土雜質超標，用它造的雷達故障率飆升300%，隱身塗料換了之後紅外信號擴大4.7倍，五代機成了雷達上的活靶子。

產能直接被腰斬，F-35交付周期從61天暴增至238天，升級周期延誤兩年多，光違約金就賠了8億美元。已交付的戰機查出873個技術缺陷，45%的戰機趴在停機坪上沒法執行任務。

客戶們集體用腳投票，加拿大把88架採購計劃砍到16架，西班牙凍結訂單，葡萄牙直接取消合作，沒人願意花天價買一堆故障頻發的“精密垃圾”。洛馬股價年內重挫25%，凈利潤率從10%跌到4.7%。

更狠的是中方的生態驅逐令，任何和洛馬深度合作的企業都被禁入中國市場，連空客、賽峰都只能忍痛切割，洛馬徹底被孤立在全球最大市場之外。

洛馬滿世界找稀土備胎，可美國本土加工能力近乎為零，就算找到礦也沒法提純，猶他州空軍基地竟要拆退役軍艦磁體提稀土，荒誕背後全是絕望。

👉對台軍售的不義之財沒賺多少，卻丟了供應鏈命脈和未來市場，洛馬的困境早不是繳不繳罰單的事，而是為傲慢付出的致命代價。中方的反制從不是威脅，是主權紅線不容觸碰的堅定態度。

👉霸權思維早該醒醒，任何企業敢踩中國核心利益的紅線，都要做好承擔後果的準備，沒有例外。中方的制裁力度，從來都和挑釁程度成正比，這是底線也是底氣。