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Chapter 765 You really asked the right person

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    If Motorola really hands over most of the satellite manufacturing orders for the Iridium project to Hughes Space Company, it will be a huge blow to Lockheed. You must know that the Iridium project developed by Motorola was the most popular in the 1990s.  Huge near-Earth space communications satellite program.

    To this end, Motorola is preparing 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 US$6.6 billion, of which 3.4 billion will be used for satellite R&D and manufacturing.

    Although more than three billion U.S. dollars is just a small cake compared to the U.S. military's satellite program, which can cost tens of billions or even tens of billions, the problem is that the U.S. military, in addition to being rich in wallets, is also a master of balance, with tens of billions of dollars.  The investment must be allocated as much as possible to several domestic space companies with satellite manufacturing capabilities in the United States. Sometimes, in order to show the generosity of the United States, part of it must be allocated to British or European companies to participate together.

    The big cake is divided into countless small cakes, and Lockheed can¡¯t even eat a few of them even if it works hard. At best, it would be thankful to God if it can get an order worth more than 2 billion US dollars.

    Excluding some public relations expenses, the high cost of the US military¡¯s neurotic designation of suppliers, and daily labor costs, the profit margin is less than 40%. Just last year, Lockheed Space Equipment Manufacturing Company undertook a project with Iridium.  Similar production work for the US military's Global Mobile Communications Satellite System is planned.

    The total investment in the project is US$16 billion, with satellite production and development costing approximately US$8.9 billion. Locke Systems will receive a 20% share, approximately US$1.8 billion, and will provide the US military with four geostationary orbit communication satellites with a mass of 1.25 tons.  .

    After all the development and production tasks were completed and the satellite was launched into orbit and delivered by the US Air Force, Lockheed's audit department came over to do an accounting. After deducting the costs and expenses one by one, the profit margin of the entire project was only a mere 32.6%.

    In other words, after investing US$1.8 billion in the US military, Lockheed only made US$586 million in the end.

    Such profit margins and amounts may be considered huge profits in other industries, but in aerospace, especially in low-Earth orbit space equipment, the profit margin must be at least 50%. Otherwise, how can we reflect the sophistication of outer space?  Therefore, under normal circumstances, satellites can only be described as extremely valuable, and big countries that are not powerful cannot afford them.

    The result is that in an industry where a profit margin of 50% is considered acceptable and a profit margin of 60% is barely a foothold, Lockheed only managed a profit of 32.6%, which is embarrassing to tell anyone.

    But there is nothing we can do. Whoever lets the customer be a tyrannical US military dares to blow up his hair? Believe it or not, I will reduce your profit to 20% next time!

    What should I do if I don¡¯t dare to blow up my hair?  It's easy to handle. It's not enough to turn the buyer's market into a seller's market. Through acquisitions, mergers, and integrations, a highly unified monopoly market will be formed. Let's see what the US military dares to do.

    As a result, a trend of mergers and reorganizations gradually began to spread in the United States. The two giants Lockheed and Boeing were the initiators of this trend. But if you want to be a trend maker, you must have the ability to make waves. In other words, you must  You must have sufficient funds. As the saying goes, money can make all the difference, and the United States is no exception.

    How to make money?

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

    It stands to reason that such a huge profit margin is already generous enough, but Lockheed, which wants to become the largest military industry giant in the United States and even the world, is still not satisfied. After all, large-scale mergers and acquisitions require the approval of Congress, and those with fat heads and brains are still not satisfied.  The appetites of the parliamentary gentlemen who are always squirming are getting bigger and bigger than the last.

    If you want to feed them, you have to increase your profit margin. Forget about orders from the US military. Both the main contractor and the sub-contractor are all related to the US military. The price of spare parts  Each one is higher than the last, and you can't negotiate the price, because you might pull out a former US Navy admiral; or a senior consultant working in a key department of the Ministry of National Defense.

    ??And these people are also senior advisors or nominee directors of Lockheed.

    So the flood washed away the Dragon King Temple, and it was common for two families to become one family. They were all trying to make money from the US military. Do you think your own family members were beaten to death?

    Therefore, every time Lockheed shouts its so-called cost control slogan loudly, the thunder is loud and the rain is small, and it ends in an anticlimax.

    Autonomy is greatly restricted.

    The 72 satellites of the Iridium project are different. No matter how powerful Motorola is, it cannot be bigger than the US military. Naturally, there is no so-called designated supplier. Lockheed needs to integrate the industrial chain of satellite R&D and manufacturing.Together, autonomy is infinitely magnified.

    Lockheed saw that this was a huge profit without bloodshed, so it raised the profit margin to 70% and at the same time defeated Hughes Space Company's $4.2 billion offer with an overall offer of $3.4 billion.  At the lowest price, it successfully obtained all communication satellite manufacturing contracts for Motorola's Iridium satellite project.

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

    Conventional American suppliers naturally cannot meet Lockheed's requirements because their products are too expensive. If they really need to be used, Lockheed will 100% pay for each satellite they build, so they must find another way to get some price from other channels.  Products with low cost, good quality and decent performance can ensure Lockheed's expected profit target in the Iridium project.

    It is precisely because of these various reasons that there was a scene where Abraham Weber, vice president of Lockheed Space Equipment Corporation, called Merlinz, a second-rate dealer.

    After hearing the details, Merlinz showed no change on the surface, but in his heart he felt that 10,000 alpacas were running back and forth crazily, which was 25% to 45% lower than that of European and American satellite accessories suppliers. It was simply more difficult to deal with.  Difficult to be.

    This price, let alone Europe and the United States, even Russia, which was suffering from the disintegration of the Soviet Union, could not be as low as this level. After all, things that can be installed on satellites are not very sophisticated, whether it is materials, processing or craftsmanship.  All of them are the recent sophisticated technological integration of mankind. The cost of such things is there and cannot be reduced even if they want to.

    What¡¯s more, even if it is reduced, wouldn¡¯t Merlinz himself make a profit?

    At least, you have to take 5 to 10 points as your own reward. Based on this calculation, Lockheed¡¯s satellite accessories are 30% to 55% higher than those of mainstream European and American manufacturers.

    Merlinz reviewed the manufacturers he had cooperated with over the years, but none of them could meet this requirement. Just when Merlinz was at his wits' end, he was ready to reject Weber's "kindness" if it failed. At this moment, he remembered that some time ago  At Ascendas Group's new aircraft launch conference, in addition to two training aircraft, Zhuang Jianye also introduced Ascendas Group's grand aerospace plans.

    Since Ascendas Group has started building rockets, can they produce satellite parts?

    A seemingly absurd idea popped up in Merlinz's head, and he immediately called the Ascendas Group's agency in Thailand with the attitude of treating a dead horse as a living horse. Unexpectedly, this question turned out to be the right one.  people!

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