The Vultures Begin to Circle
Let’s be frank, the defence industry is not a place for pleasantries and gentlemanly conduct. It’s a tough, competitive game. Boeing’s most direct rival, Lockheed Martin, is hardly going to send a sympathy card. They are the ones building the F-35, a programme that proves they can handle the big, complicated government contracts. I imagine they are already dusting off proposals and warming up their production lines, just in case the phone rings.
Then you have Northrop Grumman, a company that always strikes me as the clever, slightly futuristic one in the group. They excel in unmanned systems and next-generation bombers. A disruption in the supply of traditional aircraft could be just the nudge procurement officials need to accelerate their move towards these more advanced, and frankly, more interesting technologies. And we mustn't forget Raytheon, the indispensable supplier of everything from missile systems to engines. A government looking to spread its risk won’t just look at airframes, it will look at the entire supply chain, which could play directly into Raytheon’s hands.