More job cuts expected in U.S. defense sector :
Big defense contractors could be poised to shed jobs as the Pentagon cuts traditional weapons spending, while smaller, niche companies may ramp up their hiring as the United States expands resources to protect ground troops and computer networks. Industry leader Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) said this week it would cut 600 jobs, mainly in Owego, New York, as a result of the U.S. Defense Department’s decision to terminate the VH-71 presidential helicopter program. Aircraft maker Boeing Co (BA.N) said announced Pentagon cuts would claim 1,000 jobs in its defense business, affecting staffing at various U.S. work sites in missile defense and in the Army’s Future Combat Systems modernization program, which is being opened to more competition. Boeing, which has also been hit by the slump in commercial aerospace, declined to say whether the defense staff cuts were included in 10,000 jobs set to be pared companywide this year.
Tally up the tens of thousands of jobs that will be shed by the now defunct F-22 program. The administration can trump up new hirings by small scale defense shops, but those pale in comparison to the heavy hitters like Boeing, General Dynamics, and Lockheed. Multiple missile defense systems, the littoral combat ship, the Army’s future combat systems, and the Zumwalt-class destroyer (among others), are also on the chopping block, amounting to hundreds of thousands of skilled labor jobs lost. Considering the untold billions channeled into stimulus projects of questionable necessity, it’s strange that the White House doesn’t consider programs that actually strengthen our nation’s Armed Forces an equally worthy investment.
