Lockheed Martin says its effort to acquire Aerojet is over

WASHINGTON — Lockheed Martin announced Sunday its controversial attempt to acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne is officially over.

The cancellation, announced by Lockheed Sunday evening as the Super Bowl began, came almost three weeks after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission announced a lawsuit that sought to block the proposed $4.4 billion merger on antitrust grounds. The FTC sought a preliminary injunction to put it on hold pending a June administrative trial.

The FTC said last month it was concerned the deal would hurt competition in the defense industry by allowing Lockheed to cut other contractors off from vital missile components Aerojet provides, particularly scramjet engines for hypersonic missiles and control systems for missile interceptors.

Although Lockheed pledged to keep allowing Aerojet to sell propulsion equipment to other firms, the FTC expressed its doubts in its complaint and said Lockheed had already tried to block competition before the acquisition.

“Our planned acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne would have benefitted the entire industry through greater efficiency, speed, and significant cost reductions for the U.S. government,” Lockheed chief executive Jim Taiclet said in Sunday’s release. “However, we determined that in light of the FTC’s actions, terminating the transaction is in the best interest of our stakeholders.”

Aerojet said in its own release it would continue working on hypersonic and missile defense systems after the deal’s termination.

The proposed acquisition was first announced in December 2020, and quickly drew controversy. Raytheon Technologies publicly objected to it, saying it would force Raytheon to negotiate with Lockheed, a major competitor, for solid rocket motors. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., also questioned the deal and called for the FTC to take a close look at it.

Still, a bipartisan group of 13 lawmakers in August 2021 sent a letter backing the acquisition to Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks, calling it “in both our national security interests and the U.S. taxpayers’ best interest.” They said the merger would restore competitive balance to the industry after Northrop Grumman’s acquisition of Orbital ATK.

More In Air Warfare

From customer to sanctioned ‘proliferator,’ drones extend Iran’s reach

Iranian contractors and government officials have picked up on market demand, frequenting arms expos and other events in Russia, Iraq, Qatar and more.

How the Space Force is making its systems more resilient

A little-known board has been working over the last year to identify resiliency measures and ensure the systems the Space Force buys meet those standards.

Lack of standards slows allied tech-sharing, Space Force official says

While the issue is often raised by commercial firms, the official told the Defense Innovation Board it is also a challenge for international allies.

Ellis to succeed Rey as director of Army Network Cross-Functional Team

Brig. Gen. Patrick Ellis is expected to take over this summer.

Anduril pairs with Korean shipbuilder to design new unmanned platforms

Anduril and HD Hyundai will collaborate to pair American software and autonomy with South Korean mass manufacturing in shipbuilding.