The U.S. defense sector upped the ante Wednesday in its high-stakes standoff with Congress, warning lawmakers mass layoffs are coming unless lawmakers act quickly.Another round of defense spending cuts would "dismantle" the U.S. defense and aerospace business sector, which for decades has been "the arsenal of democracy," Robert Stevens, CEO of Lockheed Martin, said Wednesday.
The Pentagon is implementing a $350 billion cut over a decade. Unless lawmakers by January pass a package that slices the federal deficit by at least $1.2 trillion, national defense spending would be cut by another $500 billion over the same span.
Defense Department and industry officials have yet to determine what to do. As Marion Blakey, head of the Aerospace Industries Association, told DOTMIL Wednesday, "our companies have to start planning and making decisions long before January." Read More
