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The charismatic US general George S. Patton is credited with the quip, "No good decision was ever made in a swivel chair."

In which case, hopefully, Ford executives weren't sitting down when they came up with their plan to team with UK company Ricardo and US defense contractor General Dynamics to compete for a major British defense contract. The three will develop a proposal based on Ford's Ranger pickup to supply the £2 billion ($2.7 billion) Light Mobility Vehicle program.

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Re-Reporting for Duty

During World War II, Ford was a crucial part of the US-wide mobilization to support the Allied forces, building thousands of light military utility vehicles, light armored tracked vehicles, tank engines and other parts. By 1990, however, global defense spending was in decline , a trend that would continue for years after the collapse of the USSR, giving automakers cause to retreat. That year, Ford sold its aerospace subsidiary, not long after Chrysler did the same.

The past two years have made the case for a revival. Tariffs and inflation pressured automakers' margins, while emerging Chinese rivals undercut them on price. Slowing electric vehicle sales led to massive writedowns, $19.5 billion in Ford's case last year. Against that backdrop, Ford lost $8.2 billion in 2025 even as it reported a record $187 billion in revenue. Opportunities emerged on the defense front, however. Motivated by the Ukraine-Russia war, NATO members last year pledged to spend 5% of GDP on defense by 2035, or roughly $3 trillion a year, up from the previous 2% target. With hundreds of billions in spending on tap, NATO defense contracts will be lucrative, but the competition cutthroat:

• Ford has distinct advantages when it comes to the UK, including a massive British manufacturing presence with a 6,000-strong workforce. The Ranger has been Europe's best-selling pickup for over a decade, so Ford has capacity in place to rapidly scale up the production of military-grade vehicles based on it.

• But top Detroit rival General Motors is working on a rival bid with BAE Systems and NP Aerospace. So is Ineos Automotive, the off-road vehicle specialist founded by UK billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, which counts SMT Defence and NMS UK as its partners.