Industry

Protesters targeted Boeing’s Chicago headquarters on the final day of the NATO summit to take aim at the defense contractor and aerospace manufacturer.

About 200 protesters in Chicago gathered outside of Boeing Monday, throwing paper airplanes and staging a “die in,” according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

American military drones are returning to Iraq's skies months after U.S. troops withdrew from the country.

Aircraft-maker Hawker Beechcraft filed for bankruptcy protection Thursday, after reaching an agreement with its lenders that will eliminate $2.5 billion in debt.

The Wichita, Kan.-based aircraft manufacturer filed for Chapter 11 in New York as part of a restructuring deal to transfer ownership of the company to its creditors.

Lockheed Martin’s next CEO says the uncertainty from the potential automatic cuts to the Pentagon could spark a new round of mergers from defense contractors.

Christopher Kubasik, who will take over as CEO of the defense giant at the end of the year, said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday that an uptick in mergers is one potential consequence of the $500 billion cut that the Pentagon faces if sequestration is not undone.

Following recent reports of structural problems with the littoral combat ship (LCS), the heads of the Senate Armed Services Committee called for a Government Accountability Office (GAO) review of the program Monday.

Members of Congress have criticized the Navy for not supplying enough information on the state of the LCS program, including last week when the House Armed Services Committee passed an amendment requiring a “comprehensive briefing” on the program's progress.

Offered by Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), the amendment claims the Navy has "not adequately informed Congress to the full extent possible on [LCS] program deficiencies, including mechanical and structural failures."  

Lockheed Martin CEO Bob Stevens, who has been at the helm of the defense giant since 2004, is stepping down at the end of the year, the company said Thursday.

Stevens will be replaced by current President and Chief Operating Officer Chris Kubasik.

Stevens will remain at Lockheed Martin as chairman through January 2014, subject to approval by the shareholders and board.

Former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff was named chairman of BAE Systems Inc. on Wednesday.

Chertoff was elected for a three-year term, which begins May 1, and will succeed retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni.

Chertoff was secretary of Homeland Security under former President George W. Bush, after he succeeded the department’s first secretary, Tom Ridge, in 2005. Chertoff served through the duration of Bush’s second term.

The Pentagon’s top weapons buyer said Thursday that “hundreds of thousands of jobs” could be lost if the $500 billion in mandated cuts to defense set to take effect in January 2013 are not undone.

Frank Kendall, acting under secretary of Defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, said at his nomination hearing Thursday that the automatic cuts through sequestration would be “devastating” to the Pentagon and the defense industrial base.

Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on Thursday decried the fact that the U.S. military is apparently buying tens of millions of dollars' worth of helicopters for the Afghan national army from the very same state-sponsored arms manufacturer in Russia that is weaponizing Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria.  

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert last week told Congress that automatic cuts to the defense budget would essentially shut down the Pentagon. On Tuesday, a top industry official said defense firms would suffer the same fate if those cuts become reality.