Industry

General Dynamics (GD) announced Tuesday it has completed its $360 million acquisition of blast-resistant vehicle builder Force Protection.

The move makes the South Carolina-based combat truck manufacturer a part of General Dynamics Land Systems.

The head of a firm that provides military aircraft engines to the Pentagon soon will take over as the chairman of Washington’s top defense-aerospace trade association.



The Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) announced Tuesday that its board of governors has elected David Hess, president of engine-maker Pratt & Whitney, to be the 2012 chairman. 

Hess will replace the influential Jim Albaugh, president and CEO of Boeing’s commercial aircraft division — and a former head of the Chicago’s defense giant’s military business unit.



Wes Bush, the chairman, CEO and president of Northrop Grumman will be the association’s vice chairman next year.

General Dynamics announced Monday it has moved one step closer to acquiring a leading manufacturer of blast-resistant vehicles.

Virginia-based General Dynamics said in a statement it has completed a “tender offer to purchase all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Force Protection, Inc.”

GD announced earlier this year it was buying the South Carolina-based heavy-combat truck builder, which is best known for its Buffalo, Cougar and Ocelot vehicles.

Iraqi PM Nouri Al-Maliki said U.S. corporations in all economic sectors could find opportunities to help rebuild in Iraq.

Defense firms give the U.S. its technological edge through advanced combat hardware — but it’s not exactly a change agent, the top American general said Friday.

Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey applauded the defense industrial base for being a major “enabler” of the military’s combat fighting power.

But “it’s also the part of the force [that is] least likely to be open to change,” Dempsey said bluntly.

The Pentagon announced $34.8 billion in U.S. weapons were sold to foreign governments in 2011, a figure that fell short of projections for $46 billion in foreign sales.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency, a Defense agency that oversees foreign military arms sales, said that the weapons sales surpassed $30 billion for the fourth year in a row.

That was still short of the agency’s $46 billion projection for fiscal year 2011.

Raytheon acquired an Alabama cybersecurity company Monday as the defense contractor continues to ramp up its cyber operations.

The acquisition of Alabama-based Pikewerks is Raytheon's ninth cyber-related acquisition since 2007, the company said as it announced the deal.

Cybersecurity is one area where the potential for growth remains at a time when defense contractors are bracing for billions in cuts in defense spending. The Pentagon is preparing to trim as much as $492 billion over the next decade.

The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Raytheon said the acquisition would not have an effect on the company’s sales.

The Obama administration announced the potential sale Wednesday of a $304 million weapons package to the United Arab Emirates that includes 600 2,000-pound “bunker-buster” bombs.

In all, the sale includes 4,900 guided bombs to the UAE. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notified Congress of the sale Wednesday, a required step before it can be finalized.

Helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky is planning to lay off 3 percent of its workforce, in part because of “expected U.S. Department of Defense budget reductions.”

The company, a Connecticut-based subsidiary of United Technologies, notified employees Friday that it was going through a second round of staffing reductions. The company announced in September it was cutting hourly employees, and the latest round will affect mostly salaried employees. Voluntary buyouts will be offered first, the company said.

The embattled tri-service, international F-35 fighter program keeps quietly achieving key milestones.