Contractors battle against further military cuts

Defense contractors launched a broad lobbying campaign on Wednesday to drum up public support for holding the line on U.S. military spending cuts.

John Crawley Reuters Washington DC  September 14, 2011

Alarmed at the prospect of Congress dictating steep new reductions on top of more than $350 billion in cuts already in the pipeline from Pentagon streamlining, contractors based their urgent appeal on economic as well as national security grounds.

Industry lobbyists are highlighting the role of small business in aerospace production and asking the general public to contact lawmakers directly to support their position.

“Our position is: no more,” Marion Blakey, chief executive of the Aerospace Industries Association trade group, told a news conference on the stepped-up lobbying effort. “Defense has been cut to the bone. We are there already.”

Boeing Co; engine maker Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp; and other companies under the AIA umbrella are looking to create general awareness about the potential impact of extended spending reductions.

A congressional “super committee” on deficit reduction is trying to find at least $1.2 trillion in budget savings over the next decade.

The worst-case scenario coming out of the panel by year’s end — if it cannot reach agreement on additional cuts — would be an additional defense cut of up to $600 billion over the same period.

Industry calls this possibility “draconian.” Senior U.S. civilian military officials, including the nominee for the Pentagon’s No. 2 post, Defense Undersecretary Ashton Carter, told the Senate this week that cuts “over and above” the level already in the works would be devastating.

Beyond traditional lobbying that includes CEO visits to “super committee” members this week, the AIA trade group — which also represents Lockheed Martin Corp, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman and others — is launching a grass-roots strategy.