As we look back on the first five years under budget caps imposed under the Budget Control Act of 2011, it’s an appropriate time to ask how federal contractors are doing and look forward to expectations for the next five years. It’s important to note that Congress has never permitted the full force of the spending cuts to take effect, so the impact has been less dramatic than it might otherwise have been.

That said, it definitely has not been a positive development for industry, as the caps have unnecessarily restricted our nation’s investments and introduced deep uncertainty and delays into federal acquisition across the entire aerospace and defense sector.