Preparing for the downturn

The Boston Herald writes today about how the various defense companies in Massachusetts are planning for the expected cuts in the defense budget with the end of the fighting in Iraq. While it is certainly expected that the US defense budget will decline beginning in FY09 with either a Republican or Democrat administration, it will probably be slow. The biggest shift will be away from Operations & Maintenance (O&M) funding to more new systems. It will also be interesting to see if the Army and Marines will get smaller after several years of growth. Obviously the biggest player in Massachusetts is Raytheon, they may be cushioned a bit, as they tend to make high-tech weapon and C4ISR systems.

For more see the article “Massachusetts companies brace for wind down in Iraq”.

Congress protests DDG-100 cancellation

Recently the US Navy announced that it was not going to continue the DDG-100 program. Two ships are under construction by Northrop-Grumman and General Dynamics. Not unexpectedly the Senators from the affected states, mainly Massachusetts and Maine, have protested. See an article here. The major recent the Navy cites is the continued cost growth of the program. The first two were projected at under $4 B each, but now the estimates are over $5.5 B. Other than the shipbuilders, Raytheon is the most affected company as it was building the combat system of sensors for the ship. The Navy intends to continue production of the DDG-51 class instead. Read more

GD good to Massachusetts

According to this article, GD is rapidly expanding their facility in Pittsfield, MA due to several contracts from DoD. The Advanced Information Systems Division is responsible for developing weapon control systems and other electronic networks for Navy ships. They have recently built a new facility and have created over 140 jobs. This again illustrates how important the DoD budget is in creating high paid, high skilled jobs all over the country.

Massachusetts thinktank reports state does well from defense

February 3, 2008 by Dagpotter · Comment
Filed under: Federal Budget Process, Massachusetts 

A report by the UMASS Donohue Institute calculates that Massachusetts receives almost $15 B from defense work in 2005. See an article here about this. This kind of puts to bed the lie that George Bush has been punishing the Red states. It also shows the strength of the state’s Congressional delegation.