Industrial policy and supply chains
2026-04-26
12 min read
10 sources
Western Defense and Aerospace: The 2026 Consolidation Wave
Rheinmetall, Saab, KNDS, and Hanwha are buying scope while Boeing Defense bleeds and Pratt's GTF recall pulls RTX cash. The corporate map of Western airpower is being redrawn around fighter programs, drones, and tracked vehicles.
European rearmament and a third year of Pacific deterrence spending have done to Western defense what the 2010 sequester did in reverse: they have rewritten the consolidation logic. Rheinmetall is moving from ammunition supplier to systems integrator, raising its Hensoldt stake and adding aerospace tier-one capability through Provectus. S...