New Giant Is Born in Defense Industry

In the lucrative aerospace and defense industry, the top two companies are Boeing and Lockheed Martin. But assuming a giant new merger goes through, the top rankings will have to be reordered: Boeing ($101 billion in annual revenue) will remain No. 1, Lockheed ($53.7 billion) will fall to No. 3, and the new Raytheon Technologies (projected at $74 billion) will be No. 2, reports NPR. The new company is the result of an all-stock merger between the Raytheon Company and United Technologies. The new Raytheon will make everything from spacesuits to engines and seats for F-35 fighter jets, reports the Wall Street Journal.

The deal will close in the first half of next year, assuming government regulators give it the green light. In an interview with CNBC Monday, President Trump said he worried such a merger could make it harder for the government to negotiate good contracts. "When I hear United and I hear Raytheon, when I hear they're merging, does that make it less competitive?" he asked. "It's already not competitive." He said both were "great companies," adding, "I want to see that we don't hurt our competition." (More defense stories.)