By 
Lockheed Martin Corp. on Sunday said it had scrapped plans to buy Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc. after federal antitrust overseers last month sued to block the proposed $4.4 billion deal.
Lockheed Martin
LMT,
+2.79%,
the world’s largest defense company by sales, had hoped to add Aerojet’s
AJRD,
+2.76%
expertise in building rocket motors for its own missile and space systems, but the proposed deal drew fire from the Federal Trade Commission that a combination could hinder rivals.
Antitrust authorities cleared a similar defense industry deal in 2017 involving two other military contractors, but the FTC has since taken a tougher stance on so-called transactions involving vertical integration of companies and their suppliers.
“Our planned acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne would have benefitted the entire industry through greater efficiency, speed, and significant cost reductions for the U.S. government,” Lockheed Martin Chief Executive Jim Taiclet said.
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.
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