Experts and former defense officials said exemptions to the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration have somewhat blunted the financial impact on the defense industrial base.
"As the geopolitical landscape rapidly shifts, half the population (51%) say Australia should increase defence spending, while a minority (37%) say spending should remain at about the same level as now. Majority support for acquiring nuclear-powered submarines under AUKUS has held firm (67%)," a Lowy Institute poll on national security issue found last month.
The Sixth Domain is not defined by geography. It’s a new kind of conflict in which autonomy and networked systems allow thousand-dollar consumer electronics to destroy multi-million-dollar conventional weapons systems.
Beijing has not explained why its defense minister did not attend. Interestingly, there was little speculation at Shangri La about whether he had been investigated, arrested or just disappeared, as has happened with three of his predecessors.
“There was an impact, of course, with the four-week stoppage on our ability to ship all the GTFs and F135s that was in our plan,” RTX CEO Chris Calio told investors.
The six largest US defense firms all reported quarterly results this week, and the potential impact of tariffs was front and center.
The sale includes Boeing’s digital flight planning tools Jeppesen, Foreflight, AerData and OzRunways, though the company “will retain core digital capabilities" as part of the deal with private equity firm Thoma Bravo.
Do more with less: streamline workflows, reduce duplication, invest upfront to save long-term.
Kevan Craven, CEO of ADS Group, which represents UK aerospace, defence, security and space companies, told Breaking Defense in a statement that the tariff announcement was “disappointing, but will not kill our sectors,” noting however that his members have already forecast their businesses will suffer “additional costs of tens of millions of pounds.”