Rapid Fire August 31, 2012: SAIC to Split

• SAIC announces it intends to split into two listed entities. The spin-off will focus on government and enterprise IT services, which they expect to be a $4B/year business. The bulk of SAIC’s work on defense programs will stay in what they call the “solutions-focused business”, a $7B/y company that will also pursue engineering and health markets. SAIC was for decades an employee-owned company, as its tagline used to proudly proclaim until it went public in 2006.

• Andrew Erickson and Gabe Collins argue in The Diplomat that China is simply modernizing its Navy, not building the sort of blue water fleet that would allow deep projection. Maybe. They do seem in a hurry though.