Bloomberg News reports that Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) has a whole lot of losing going on. Yesterday, Boeing suffered its fourth straight defeat in three months on a U.S. defense contract. This loss represents $41 billion in lost revenue.

Here are the four contracts:

• Yesterday. Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) the world's largest defense company, beat Boeing for a $1.46 billion U.S. Air Force award to build a new network of navigation satellites for military and civilian use. The Air Force said it reviewed five years of past performance for both contractors. Boeing has yet to launch a single satellite under its most recent GPS contract from April 1996, and in 2006 the company forfeited $21.4 million and replaced the program's managers after delays and cost overruns.
• February 2008. EADS, parent of Airbus and Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) won a $35 billion tanker contest for the Air Force. I've spilled much electronic ink on this one -- it looks like the Air Force changed the specifications for the project but only told EADS about the change.

• April 2008. Northrop won a $3.74 billion Navy unmanned spyplane order against Boeing. Bloomberg News reports that Captain Robert Dishman, the U.S. Navy's program manager, said at the Pentagon in Washington that Northrop's Global Hawk is "a highly capable air vehicle."
• March 2008. Lockheed beat Boeing for a $766 million radio contract.

What is going on here? There is a different reason for each of Boeing's losses. Clearly the CEO cannot get heavily involved in the details of each bid. So,he needs to appoint people who can take charge of the programs and create a way to follow up on what they're doing so if there's a problem that requires his attention, he can do something to fix it. Unfortunately, it's too late for Boeing on these four programs except the Tanker one which is still under review.

The Seattle Times speculates that there are two Boeings: the Defense and the Commercial. The Defense is clearly having problems winning bids. But the Commercial, while winning many new orders, is struggling to deliver its 787 after numerous delays. There are no easy answers to Boeing's problems. But I believe Boeing's CEO is determined to solve them. Whether or not he succeeds remains to be seen.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He is writing a book about Boeing and has no financial interest in the securities mentioned.