????但不要就此宣告波音敗局已定。BDS業務正在設法捕捉幾個重要機會，如果成功，它就有希望獲得一項大規模軍用飛機訂單。這是美國海軍的第一個艦載無人空中監視和打擊（UCLASS）項目，目標是到2020年實現在航空母艦上起降無人戰斗機。波音、諾斯洛普格拉曼公司（Northrop Grumman）、洛克希德-馬丁和通用原子公司（General Atomics）都會全力以赴地爭奪這份合同，同時竭盡所能達到預計將在今年公布的產品最終要求。

????第二份合同可以說更為重要，這就是美國空軍的遠程打擊轟炸機項目，外界對此期待已久。這個項目預計將包括約100架飛機，價值1000億美元，而且每架飛機都將需要幾十年的服務支持。波音正和洛克希德-馬丁攜手，跟諾斯洛普格拉曼公司爭奪這份轟炸機合同，招標書有可能在明年公布。

????波音擺脫緩慢增長的捷徑是與一家規模較小的同類公司合并，或者干脆收購它。阿伯拉菲亞說，諾斯洛普格拉曼公司就是這樣的企業，它正在成為無人自主戰斗機領域的龍頭。如果并購成功，波音在贏得遠程轟炸機合同方面多少就會有些保障，還會在UCLASS項目的爭奪中占據有利位置。BDS業務仍然在捍衛自己在國防市場的位置。一旦失去這兩個新一代戰機項目中的任何一個，波音顯然就會處于自己并不希望的境地。

????隨著政府收緊國防開支，美國國防承包商開始越來越多地在海外尋找客戶。雷蒙德認為，波音的BDS業務在海外市場有一個特別的優勢——在這個環境中，它可以出售實用的、而不是最新最出色的產品。同時，借助繁榮的民航飛機業務，波音和海外政府及企業的關系也有望給它帶來生意。

????雷蒙德說：“這需要在市場中培養大量緊密的關系，而商用飛機業務已經幫我們建立了這樣的關系。”（財富中文網）

????譯者：Charlie

????But don't count the company out. BDS is pursuing several large opportunities that, if successful, would secure it another major, high-volume military aircraft production program. The first is the U.S. Navy's UCLASS (or Unmanned Carrier Launched Aerial Surveillance and Strike) program, which aims to field an unmanned fighter jet that can launch and recover aboard an aircraft carrier by 2020. Boeing, Northrop Grumman (NOC), Lockheed Martin, and General Atomics will all vie for that contract, the final requirements of which are expected this year.

????The second and arguably more important is the U.S. Air Force's long-awaited Long Range Strike Bomber program, which is expected to carry a $100 billion price tag for roughly 100 airframes, each of which will require service for decades to come. A Boeing-Lockheed collaboration is competing with a Northrop Grumman proposal for the bomber contract, whose requirements will also likely be released in the next year.

????An easy way out of sluggish growth for Boeing would be a merger or acquisition of a smaller peer company, Aboulafia says, such as Northrop Grumman, which is emerging as a leader in unmanned, autonomous flight. That deal would more or less ensure that Boeing wins the long-range bomber contract and put it in a good position to win the UCLASS contract. Still, BDS is working to defend its place in the defense marketplace, and failure to land the contract for one of these next-generation programs would put it in a place it clearly doesn't want to be.

????With domestic defense spending tightening, U.S. defense contractors are increasingly looking for customers abroad. It is in the international market that Raymond feels BDS has a particular advantage -- an environment where it can be an advantage to sell something that is effective but doesn't carry the price tag of the latest and greatest. And through its thriving civilian jet business, Boeing has relationships with foreign governments and companies that could translate into deals.

????"There's a lot of market intimacy you need to bring to that," Raymond says. "And we have that through our commercial business."