Defence contractors’ campaign against US cuts

Due to substantial US defence spending cuts, leading defence contractors and investors have revised down their market outlook. During a conference in New York, Jim Albaugh, Chief Executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, backed up by Charles Mathis, Chief Financial Officer of Force Protection, told investors that “the Department of Defense is going to have to take out between $800bn and $1,000bn over the next 10 years […] It’s going to be a tough marketplace for a while to come without question”. British companies like Rolls-Royce are also affected by the cuts. The main concern lies the US Congress’s decision to make a first round of $350 of cuts over the next decade, with the DoD potentially facing a further round of some $500bn of cuts. In response to this situation, industry lobby groups have joined forces, launching a campaign under the slogan “Second to None”, and the Aerospace Industries Association has taken the lead to “educate” congressmen about the importance of defence spending to US national security.