Industrial concentration and defence procurement

Can modern production centralization be traced back to the Nixon era?

No. The pattern is older, and concentrating a shrinking defence market in one supplier reduces competition and procurement resilience.

Production concentration predates Nixon, as shown by the long history of politically distributed American arsenals. British defence production consolidated into one company presents a different risk. A single supplier reduces competition and leaves fewer domestic alternatives when a programme goes wrong. Nineteenth-century British industrial predominance also differed from a modern supply system dominated by one country because manufacturing was then spread across Germany, France, and other producers. Concentration at either company or national scale becomes dangerous when the dominant source is politically unreliable. The exchange connects industrial geography to the resilience of the procurement system that must equip and sustain a navy.