According to Simon Harwood, Leonardo's UK Capability Development Director, the company is redefining its traditional mergers and acquisitions approach into a "MAP" strategy: Mergers, Acquisitions, Alliances, and Partnerships.
Harwood highlighted the importance of combining the rapid innovation of startups with the reliability and scale of large prime contractors. He emphasized that meaningful innovation occurs within both SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) and large primes.
To facilitate this, Leonardo's new approach involves developing a "strategic collaboration product" to work directly with SMEs. This framework allows the entities to go to market together, fully leveraging the ingenuity and speed of smaller firms.
Analysis: Harwood's focus on merging the agility of SMEs with the robust resources of large prime contractors highlights the evolving nature of innovation within the defense sector.