A FORCE Report

ExCel, London: Changes, big changes, are afoot in the global defence industry. While the signs have been in the air for a while now, at DSEi 2017, evidence was presented in the form of press conferences, announcements and displays. The changes are driven by two prongs of increasing costs of research and development, and subsequent technologies on the one hand, and greater expectations of the buyers, especially when it comes to value for money.

As the result, even as the markets continue to grow, howsoever sluggishly, multilateral competition has become financially debilitating for the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Hence, the way forward is collaboration and not competition. Former rivals across nations are becoming partners and are dividing the markets among themselves so that they do not indulge in wasteful expenditure of running competitive campaigns in the same region — South America for you, Middle East for me; South Asia for you and Far East for me and so on.

At the joint press conference, held on the second day of the Show, German company Hensoldt and British company Kelvin Hughes announced that the former was buying out the latter. The acquisition process would be completed in the coming weeks. Addressed by head of strategic business development, Hensoldt, Celia Pelaz, and