Military stocks are taking a hit as the Department of Defense prioritizes research and development over purchases of aircraft, tanks and other equipment and creates opportunities to work with Silicon Valley startups and other nontraditional defense contractors, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
Competition with countries like Russia and China has resulted in a change in the Department of Defense’s procurement strategy. The development phase is splitting up from the production stage and is being accelerated by the increasing use of advanced software and prototypes.
Legacy contractors are seeing competition from Silicon Valley-based startups, including Shield AI, Palantir and Anduril, as DOD increases adoption of technologies such as artificial intelligence, software and drones, according to the report.
Big tech companies such as Oracle, Microsoft, Google and Amazon are expanding their presence in the defense industry by competing for cloud contracts.
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