Defense Cutbacks
Pentagon eyes Northrop Grumman ship cuts - report By Abby Deveney
LONDON (CBS.MW) -- Pentagon planners are proposing deep cuts in Northrop Grumman's (NOC: news, chart, profile) multibillion-dollar shipbuilding business as part of a major rollback in defense spending, said analysts and government officials quoted Tuesday by the Los Angeles Times online. But several of Northrop's large weapons programs appear to have been spared, or even enhanced, by the budget planners, the LA Times also said. The cuts were outlined in an internal Pentagon document that proposes slashing the military's budget request by $30 billion over the next six years. According to several sources, the cutbacks would hit Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT: news, chart, profile) the hardest as the Pentagon wants to halt purchases of Lockheed's C-130J cargo planes and slash the number of F/A-22 fighters it buys. Boeing Co. (BA: news, chart, profile) could be hurt by a decrease in missile defense spending, but the effect would probably be small, the LA Times report said.
Boeing responds to defense budget cuts reports By Carla Mozee
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- Boeing (BA: news, chart, profile) on Tuesday issued a response to media reports that it, along with other large defense contractors, will lose billions of dollars in business if proposed defense budget cuts are approved. "We have said for some time that competing priorities would flatten future defense spending," Boeing said in a statement. Published reports Tuesday indicated Boeing, Lockheed Martin (LMT: news, chart, profile) and Northrop Grumman (NOC: news, chart, profile) could face sharp reductions in defense contracts. Boeing said the reports reference Department of Defense deliberations "to which we are not privy." Boeing said given its current backlog and strong performance of its mix of development, production and support programs, it sees itself as "very well-positioned for the future."
==============================================================
The Times-Picayune reports Northrop Grumman may cut up to 2500 jobs at the company's Avondale shipyard in New Orleans and the Ingalls shipyard in Mississippi over the next 3 years. The two shipyards, plus smaller facilities employ a total of roughly 20K people.
Mish |
