Tony Zinni of BAE: Smart Power is the Future of Government Contracting

Tony Zinni

BAE Systems, Inc. aims to broaden its security business beyond the DoD, according to its new CEO, Anthony Zinni.  BAE and other large contractors are increasingly interested in the U.S. government’s nonmilitary efforts to improve economic and political stability in war-torn or dangerously dysfunctional countries, a concept called “smart power.”

BAE is looking at its existing capabilities in areas where it already has expertise like intelligence, energy and information management technology, and “how can this be used to support some of the things that smart power is designed to focus on, like stabilization and reconstruction, and more balanced approaches to international and national security issues,” Zinni said.

As funding for large, costly weapons systems is cut from the DoD budget, “smart power” will become an increasingly important market to large defense firms.