The Air Current
Will Guisbond
09 July 2026
Leidos, RTX claim competitors’ Chinese ties may create national security threats for key air traffic control software systems
Domestic contractors vying for U.S. air traffic control modernization projects are citing Chinese business ties as well as cyber and national security concerns in their latest bid to shut out foreign-owned competition.
Leidos and RTX Corp. are warning Congress and the Trump administration of their competitors’ relationships with China, according to people familiar with the matter. Their French and Spanish competitors, Thales and Indra, have both sold air traffic management software platforms to the country, and Frequentis of Austria has active business relationships in China.
The five companies are competing to provide the Federal Aviation Administration with a Common Automation Platform (CAP), a key software pillar of its ATC modernization effort likely to cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Leidos privately argues that selling the same CAP technology to the FAA that is used by a key U.S. rival could create serious national security risks, the familiar people said...
