I recently received an excellent note from a doctoral candidate at the Turkish Military Academy who had read my book Arms & Innovation. He had a number of poignant questions on which I am still working, and one that I could answer a bit more quickly. Rephrased slightly, this is what he asked—
Should General Atomics have sought production alliances as Force Protection did for ramping up output?
That’s a fair question. I wrote back that I had heard from former staff, sometime consultants to General Atomics (GA), and press reports that the company is very vertically integrated, but also that I have never been able to confirm this with a visit. GA is legendarily secretive, so I have been writing about the company from a viewpoint that is not fully informed. That said, the company is probably disregarding common industry practice in keeping so much fabrication work in house. That may or may not be a good thing; it’s just not quite standard practice. In suggesting that a higher level of subcontracting could be appropriate, I would not be necessarily suggesting the level seen in the 787 program, but perhaps just that more common in military aircraft. So, while I can't say for certain, I suspect the GA could have profitably subcontracted more of its airframe work. When I next get to talk privately with a manager from GA, I will ask this question pointedly.
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