Rapid Fire Oct. 11, 2012: Little Taste Left for Big Mergers

After you, big guy

• Analysts see prime contractors hunkering down rather than consolidate, after the failed BAE-EADS merger. Acquisitions or mergers involving tier 2 players are more likely.

• The US Air Force’s Air Mobility Command recently conducted flight tests with C-17s flying in formations meant to reduce drag on the trailing aircraft(s), like geese V-shaped migrations. This could save fuel, and continues work started last decade by NASA and Boeing with the Autonomous Formation Flight [PDF]. Researchers from Stanford pitched a similar idea to Airbus 3 years ago, which so far seems to have translated into a CGI… with a 2050 horizon.