Take Off My Aviation Era

If Motorola really handed over most of the satellite manufacturing orders for the Iridium project to Hughes Space, it would have been a big blow to Lockheed. You must know that the Iridium project developed by Motorola was the most recent in the 1990s. A huge near-Earth space communications satellite program.

To this end, Motorola plans to launch 66 communication satellites and 6 backup satellites into low-Earth orbit in the next few years, with a total investment of a record 6.6 billion U.S. dollars, of which 3.4 billion will be used for satellite research and development and manufacturing.

Although more than three billion US dollars is just a little cake sprinkled with water compared to the tens of billions or even tens of billions of US military satellite programs, but the problem is that the US military is also a master of balance in play, in addition to the wallet rich. Not to mention that the investment of the United States should be allocated to several domestic space companies with satellite manufacturing capabilities as much as possible. Sometimes, in order to show the magnificence of the United States, a part of it should be allocated to British or European companies.

The big cake was divided into countless small cakes, and Lockheed was desperately trying to eat a few portions. At best, he could get a list of more than two billion dollars, thank goodness.

Excluding some public relations costs, the high cost of the US military’s neurotic assignment of suppliers and daily labor costs, the profit margin is less than 40%. Just last year, Lockheed Space Equipment Manufacturing Company undertook an agreement with Iridium. The plan is for similar production of the US military's global mobile communications satellite system.

The total investment of the project is 16 billion US dollars, satellite production and development is about 8.9 billion US dollars, and the ROC system is allocated 20% of the share, which is about 1.8 billion US dollars. It will provide the US military with 4 geostationary orbit communication satellites with a mass of 1.25 tons. .

After all development and production tasks are completed, the satellite will be launched by the US Air Force into orbit and delivered. Lockheed's audit department will come over and calculate. After the costs and expenses are eliminated, the profit rate of the entire project is only a mere 32.6%.

In other words, with the US$1.8 billion investment in the US military, Lockheed only earned US$586 million in the end.

Such profit margins and amounts may be regarded as profitable in other industries, but in aerospace, especially low-Earth orbit space equipment, the profit margin should be at least 50%, otherwise how to reflect the height of outer space? Therefore, under normal circumstances, satellites can only be described as priceless, not a powerful country that can't afford it.

The result is that such a 50% profit margin is considered a passing industry, and 60% is barely based. Lockheed actually only made 32.6%, which is embarrassing to say.

But there is no way. Whoever makes the customer be the arrogant American army, dare to blow up the hair, believe it or not, I will reduce your profit to 20% next time!

What if you don't dare to blow up hair? It's easy to handle. Turning the buyer's market into a seller's market is not the end. Through acquisitions, mergers, and integration, a highly unified monopoly market will be formed. It looks like the US military dares to speak out.

As a result, a wave of mergers and reorganizations has gradually emerged in the United States. The two giants Lockheed and Boeing are the instigators of this wave. But if you want to act as a waver, you must have the ability to make waves, in other words, you must Sufficient funds are required. As the saying goes, having money can make the ghosts worse, and the United States is no exception.

How can I make money?

Of course, it is to maximize the profit of each order. At this time, Motorola came to the door with the Iridium plan. Naturally Lockheed could not let go of this opportunity. You must know that Motorola is not the US military, there are not so many tricks and doorways, 3.4 billion Lockheed can make at least 60% of the profits for satellite R&D and manufacturing costs in US dollars.

It stands to reason that such wild profit margins are already huge enough, but Lockheed, who wants to become the largest military industry giant in the United States and even the entire world, is still not satisfied. After all, large-scale mergers and acquisitions require the consent of Congress, and those brains are fat and heads. The congressional masters who often smoke have a bigger appetite.

If you want to feed them, you have to increase the profit margin. The US military's list is nothing to think about. Both the main contractor and the sub-contractor are all related to the US military, and the price of spare parts. One is higher than the other, and you still can’t bargain, because it may be a former U.S. Navy admiral or a senior consultant who works in a key department of the Department of Defense.

These people are also Lockheed's senior advisors or named directors.

So the flood rushed to the Dragon King Temple, and the two families became one family everywhere. They all changed the law to make money for the US military. Does it mean that one's own family killed them?

Therefore, every time Lockheed chanted its so-called cost control slogan, the thunder and the rain were a little bit smaller every time.

Autonomy is greatly restricted.

The 72 satellites of the Iridium project are different. Motorola is not as powerful as the U.S. military. Naturally, there are no so-called designated suppliers. All of them need Lockheed to integrate the satellite R&D and manufacturing industry chain. The right is magnified infinitely.

Lockheed saw that if it didn’t make a profit, it would have been thunderous, so it increased its profit margin to 70% and beat Hughes Space’s $4.2 billion with an overall offer of $3.4 billion. With the reserve price, it successfully obtained all the communications satellite manufacturing contracts of Motorola's Iridium Satellite Program.

Low quotation, high profit, and the performance of the satellite must meet Motorola's requirements. Lockheed is also fighting to make money.

Conventional American suppliers naturally cannot meet Lockheed’s requirements, because their products are too expensive and they really need to be used. Lockheed will pay for one satellite for 100% of its satellites, so it must find another way and get some prices from other channels. Low, good quality, decent performance products, so as to ensure the profit target of Lockheed in the Iridium plan.

Because of these various reasons, there was the scene of Abraham Weber, the vice president of Lockheed Space Equipment Company, calling Merlinz, the second trafficker.

After listening to the details, although Merlinz did not change much on the surface, in his heart, 10,000 alpacas were flying back and forth wildly, which was 25% to 45% lower than that of European and American satellite accessories suppliers, and it was even more difficult. Embarrassing.

Let alone Europe and the United States~www.readwn.com~ Even the ecstatic Russia, which was tossed by the disintegration of the Soviet Union, cannot be so low. After all, the thing that can be equipped with satellites is not high-tech, whether it is The materials, processing, and craftsmanship are all the recent integration of human precision technology. The cost of such things is there, and they can't be lowered if they want to.

What's more, even if it comes down, doesn't Merlinz make any money himself?

Let alone get 5 to 10 points for your own remuneration. In this way, the satellite accessories that Lockheed wants will be 30% to 55% higher than that of mainstream European and American manufacturers.

Merlinz has counted over the manufacturers he has worked with over the years, and none of them can meet this requirement. Just as Merlinz was unable to do anything, he was ready to reject Weber’s "goodwill" when he was unable to do so. At this moment, he remembered the previous period. In addition to the two trainers at the launch conference of Ascendas Group's new aircraft, Zhuang Jianye also introduced Ascendas Group's grand aerospace plan at that time.

Now that Ascendas Group has started to build rockets, can they produce satellite parts?

A seemingly ridiculous idea popped up in Merlinz’s head, and immediately called Ascendas Group’s representative office in Thailand with the attitude of a dead horse as a living horse doctor. I didn’t expect this question, so I’m right. people!