After three decades, defense may not be a buyer’s market anymore.
This week, the Federal Trade Commission filed an antitrust lawsuit that seeks to block
$4.4 billion plans to acquire rocket maker Aerojet Rocketdyne, arguing that it “would allow the combined firm to use its control of Aerojet to harm Lockheed’s rivals in ways that would substantially lessen competition in multiple markets for products critical to the national defense.”
Aerojet Rocketdyne, itself the result of a 2012 merger, is the last large independent U.S. manufacturer of engines for rockets and missiles. Its direct competitor, Orbital ATK, was bought by Northrop Grumman in 2018.
Dozens of major companies played in the U.S. defense industry in the 1990s. Now there are a handful of mega-conglomerates. With some…
