August 17, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
By: Mike Gruss
The adage is that it is difficult for an aircraft carrier to turn on a dime.
The same could be said for the defense industry or Pentagon budgets and as such, the Defense News Top 100 list.
Changes are slow and can take time to appear on our list. For example, for the first time, this year's list reflects the result of the L3-Harris merger. L3, ranked 18th on last year's list, and Harris, ranked 26th a year ago, merged to form what everyone expected: one of the world's largest defense corporations in L3Harris Technologies, ranked 9th on our list.
Next year, observers will see the results of the merger between Raytheon, ranked 5th on this year's list, and United Technologies Corp., ranked 10th on this year's list.
Thematically, the shifts that defense and military leaders have spent years discussing are becoming fully reflected in industry. China's heavy investments in defense are becoming evident by the inclusion of Aviation Industry Corporation of China (6th), China North Industries Group Corporation Limited (8th), and China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (11th) on this year's list. The role of integration and communication tools is becoming more important, as is evidenced by Leidos, Peraton and Perspecta's inclusion. Medium-sized businesses are becoming increasingly critical players.
And, for years, U.S. military leaders have heard from Silicon Valley startups that it remains too difficult to break into the defense market in a meaningful way. Advocates will likely point by how few are in the list. Other companies have complained that the big primes have too much of a lock on Pentagon contracts, perhaps seen in how the top five bring in more than twice the revenue of the next five.
Each year, the Defense News Top 100 is part art, part science. Every year, the Defense News team tries to push it a bit closer to science. This year's list, like years past, is a snapshot of what's happening in defense markets and maybe, just maybe, a hint of what's to come.
February 12, 2024 | International, Aerospace
The new order is subject to approval by the Norwegian Parliament and will come in addition to repurchasing the equipment that has already been donated to Ukraine.
April 17, 2024 | International, Security
September 7, 2018 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR
By: Daniel Cebul WASHINGTON — In the era of great power competition, the speed at which competing militaries are capable to innovate and evolve could determine who would win in a war. In light of the need for speed, military innovation experts at the Defense News Conference tackled the question of whether the Department of Defense can still move quickly to develop new technologies and capabilities. While the conversation surrounding innovation tends to revolve around the development of new technology, other organizational changes are arguably more important for military innovation. Col. Liam Collins, director of the Modern War Institute, said that while new technologies play a role, they are not the driving force of innovation. “Sure, there were technological innovations that were part of it, such as new signals intelligence capabilities, but it was really more of an organizational or doctrinal innovation in which technology played a part,” Collins said. “Technology facilitates those other innovations, which are really often the most critical and often the less studied [of] what we focus on.” One example of changes to organizational doctrine and behavior is the DoD's uptick in using other contracting authorities, or OTA. Shawn Black, vice president and general manager for electro-optical and infrared systems are Leonardo DRS, said that from the commercial side, these alternative contracting authorities are appealing because they move quicker and better communicate requirements. “They represent a faster procurement cycle. You are able to move through the process of responding to a solicitation and providing a proposal much quicker. There is more flexibility in the intellectual property provisions,” Black said. "[Leonardo] has seen much-improved communication with the acquiring organization as you move through the process. “Right up until the submission we are able to zero in right on what they are looking for.” So how fast are these alternative options able to pump out contracts? Mike Madsen, partner and head of Washington operations at Defense Innovation Unit, said his office is looking to “leverage the OT authority and put award prototyping contracts within 60 to 90 days." "The fastest we've been able to do is just under that, and we are averaging 100 days,” he added. Full article: https://www.defensenews.com/smr/defense-news-conference/2018/09/06/can-the-us-military-still-innovate-quickly