And then the third thing is the notion that we have international defense strategy, and I think our allies are increasingly embracing is international cooperation, which drives interoperability and also linking command and control systems, all of which comport with our strategy. So I think there are some megatrends that are going on over a longer term that won’t necessarily affect us quarter-to-quarter as Jay was stating, but will give us opportunities that I think the company is uniquely positioned to take advantage of over that long term.
Operator: Thank you. And our next question is from the line of Seth Seifman from JPMorgan. Please go ahead.
Seth Seifman: Hi. Thanks very much and good morning, everyone.
Jim Taiclet: Good morning.
Jay Malave: Good morning.
Seth Seifman: Maybe, Jay, one quick housekeeping question and then one broader question for both of you. The mid-single-digit growth you talked about for free cash flow per share next year, did that assume any kind of pension contribution next year? And how big might that be or not? And then just more broadly, when you guys talk about seeking out additional suppliers of solid rocket motors, is that something for maybe developing hypersonics programs for late in the decade and into the 2030s? Or is that about replacing your suppliers on kind of today’s existing programs? Thanks.
Jim Taiclet: I’ll talk to solid rocket motors and Jay can take the free cash flow per share part of your question there. So our objective is to bring antifragility into our own supply chain first and to broadly apply that to the DoD in partnership with them as well. And so when it comes to solid rocket motors, I mean we’re actually starting with GMLRS, for example, a legacy technology where we want to augment our existing supplier and have a dual source, frankly. And then that will extend into other systems, large and small and legacy in advance. So this is not a onetime objective. This is a broad, in a way, campaign like approach to strengthening our own supply chain and enabling multiple sources really for even beyond our company for our industry, which I think is important.
So I do think that this is not a one-shot deal. We’re in negotiations and discussions with a counterparty. We think we can start us off with on this journey, but it’s going to be a long journey, and we’ll probably have additional participants and programs as the years and even decades roll on.
Jay Malave: On the question of the free cash flow per share for 2024, Seth, what I mentioned is that we’re setting up internal targeting and internal actions to be able to arrive at that incremental. Pension contribution would obviously put pressure on that. And we’ll go through that over the next coming months and determine what the art of what’s possible and what our plans would be, and again we’ll present that in January.
Operator: Thank you. And the next question is from Myles Walton from Wolfe Research. Please go ahead.
Myles Walton: Thanks. Good morning. Jay, a quick clarification and then a question for Jim. The clarification on the margins for next year, 25 to 50 basis points of risk, I guess, is what you’re seeing on the MFC. Should we anticipate that there’s a way around that? Or is that the base case? And then, Jim, in the press release, you talked about digital services revenue over time. And I’m just curious, maybe you could touch on your vision of what digital services revenue is today and where you want to take it over the next several years?
Jim Taiclet: So digital services will be a wide range, but we’re starting with this notion of trusted, reliable mission systems engineering for command and control and battle management systems. That is a business we’re already in, actually. It is largely digital already. And it’s these kind of programs like Defense of Guam. We have a program in the UAE that’s based on this technology as well called DIAMONDShield. We’re using that core technology to then expand into other programs like AIR6500. So we’re already in that business. It’s in, I think, the mid-low to mid-single-digit billions at this point. And we’re going to try to ramp that up in and of itself, add other technologies to that for networking, connecting again our platforms as well as other platforms from other OEMs to provide mission solutions for the DoD.
So the digital and the physical technologies will ultimately come together in a way that can advance mission capability for our customers in, say, air-to-air combat, surface warfare, et cetera, and air and missile defense integration. Those kinds of missions, we want to advance every three to six months of the combination of digital and physical technologies of our own and from others, partners, etc., that we will work with. So this is, again, long-term broad approach, but we’ve already got a very, very good starting point that’s material in the command and control and battle management systems that we have today and how we’re augmenting them and modernizing those for the future.
Jay Malave: Okay. Going back to the question on margins for next year. Just as I mentioned, underlying margins, and let me for sake of clarity, margins, excluding the impact of the MFC program, we expect to be flattish. The MFC programs, it will provide a drag on the margins next year, and it’s a question of timing. So it could be anywhere between 25 to 50 basis points. And again, we’ll have a lot more clarity on that as we close out the year.
Operator: Thank you. The next question is from the line of Noah Poponak from Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.
Noah Poponak: Hello, everyone.
Jim Taiclet: Good morning.
Jay Malave: Hi.
