Industry

The Pentagon’s reliance on foreign countries for parts and raw material is a national security threat, a new report from the manufacturing industry argues.

The report, released Wednesday by the Alliance for American Manufacturing comes as companies are concerned about the U.S. industrial base shrinking as defense budgets decline.

The report, which was authored by Guardian Six Consulting, tries to make the case that the health of the manufacturing sector is intertwined with national security. It calls for strengthening the U.S. manufacturing industry, with 10 recommendations to cut down on the reliance on foreign nations.

Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is re-joining the International Advisory Board of global public relations giant Fleishman-Hillard.

The company announced Thursday that Panetta was taking a position on the board to advise its clients on global business issues.

Panetta was a member of Fleishman’s board before 2009, when he resigned after President Obama appointed him to be CIA director. Panetta then became Obama's Defense secretary in 2011. 

BAE Systems said Monday it will lay off 300 workers at facilities across the United States, two-thirds of which will occur in New Hampshire.

The defense contractor said the layoffs were necessary due to the budget cuts the Pentagon is facing as it plans to reduce $487 billion from its budgets over the next decade.

The layoffs were not made, however, over the prospect of additional across-the-board cuts through sequestration that could hit the Pentagon in March.

The Aerospace Industries Association says it's "very disappointed" Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) believes the automatic cuts will occur.

Former Rep. Steve Rothman (D-N.J.) is joining the lobbyist ranks to start up a new defense industry group at a Northeast law firm.

Rothman has been hired by Sills Cummis & Gross, a New Jersey- and New York-based law firm that specializes in healthcare, medical devices, real estate and banking.

The hire is a step into the defense world for the firm, which has not previously had much work in the defense industry.

Boeing said Thursday that it would cut 160 jobs at its El Paso plant as it prepares for budget cuts from the Pentagon.

The aerospace and defense company said it is planning to consolidate its El Paso electronics facilities by the end of 2014, cutting more than 40 percent of the 370 positions currently there.

Boeing said that “anticipated U.S. defense budget cuts” would lead to less demand for the products manufactured at the facility.

The Topline: The defense industry does not know yet how much more the Pentagon budget will be cut when all is said and done on "the fiscal cliff."

But that didn’t stop the Aerospace Industries Association from projecting growth in 2013, despite the Pentagon budget cuts already on the books and the threat of the across-the-board cuts.

AIA CEO Marion Blakey said at the group’s annual year-end gathering Wednesday that she remained “optimistic” sequestration would still be averted, even as the AIA’s big red countdown clock flashed “27 days” behind her.

“Yes, I’m sure some of you are wondering, 'Did she factor in sequestration?' ” Blakey said. “No, guys, I didn’t. I’m an optimist, and we have to prevail.”

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As the defense industry wages an uphill fight to protect defense spending in the "fiscal cliff" talks, critics of Pentagon spending see more cuts on the horizon.

Three advocates for a leaner defense budget held a “response call” to a defense industry CEO press conference Monday, where the industry executives said revenues should be part of a solution to stave off the across-the-board sequestration cuts.

The analysts on the call — Ben Freeman of the Project on Government Oversight, William Hartung of the Center for International Policy and Chris Preble of the Cato Institute — sounded a renewed sense of optimism that more cuts were coming, whether sequestration happened or not.

“The whole fiscal cliff is a 3-way heavyweight fight between taxes, entitlements and defense,” Freeman said. “The Pentagon is actually the lighter of those heavyweights. The electoral implications are more significant for the tax-hike crowd than cuts to Pentagon spending are.”

Chris Kubasik, who was slated to take over as CEO in January, resigned over an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate.

On eve of the election, a prominent union official echoed warnings from Mitt Romney about Rust Belt job losses.