Lockheed Expands Technological Innovation, Commercial Integration

by Jim Morris, Warrior Vice President, News 

Budget pressures in the US are forcing the world’s largest defense contractor to act more efficiently and expand its integration of emerging commercial technologies. 

Two of Lockheed Martin’s C-suite executives explained where the maker of the F-35 stands Thursday at Bernstein’s 40th annual Strategic Decisions Conference.

“It’s a bit ironic where we are in a situation where we’ve got threats increasing at a rate we haven’t seen in decades. We’ve got technology increasing at a furious pace and yet in terms of real dollars, there’s less resource,” said Lockheed chief operating officer Frank St. John.

“That puts the emphasis on us as prime contractors for the US government to be more agile and more efficient and be able to deliver them capability within the resource constraints. But if you look at the specifics of the budget …there are some good things for Lockheed Martin in there.”

In March, President Biden submitted a budget request for the coming fiscal year that includes $850 billion for defense. That represents a 4.1 percent increase from FY 2023. But when you add in inflation, that increase turns into negative growth.

It’s not that the president could do much about that. Two years ago, Biden reached an agreement with the then-Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, that capped defense spending. According to Brookings Institution, that $850 billion budget actually turns into $895 billion when you throw in things such as the National Nuclear Security Administration’s nuclear weapons activities and some other items.