Missiles, Margins, and the Uneasy Reality of Defence Portfolios
There is nothing quite like a twenty-billion-dollar government cheque to concentrate the mind.
The Pentagon recently handed Raytheon a five-year, $20.7bn contract to churn out AMRAAM missiles, with two option years tucked into the small print. To my mind, this is not merely bureaucratic routine. It is a blunt admission that Western arsenals have been caught with their trousers down. For years, defence planners acted as though warfare could run on sleek, just-in-time logistics. Now, they find themselves frantically restocking empty cupboards.
The AMRAAM is not a glamorous toy built for parlour games or airshow flypasts. It is the workhorse air-to-air munition of NATO. When regional flare-ups turn into prolonged brawls, these are the very items that run dry first. Investors watching the thematic collection Aftermath of Airstrikes: Defense & Energy Fortification will recognise the broader pattern. Hardened supply chains and basic munitions are back in vogue, simply because the world has become distinctly less civil.
Yet, I always urge a dose of healthy British scepticism before popping the champagne.