Industry

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.

There could be a new market for "sellers" on Wall Street: U.S. defense stocks.

Several top American weapons manufacturers’ stock prices were down Monday morning as it became increasingly clear that the special congressional debt panel would fail to find $1.2 trillion in federal savings.

A supercommittee failure, which could be formally announced on Monday, would trigger $600 billion in national defense spending cuts over a decade, making U.S. defense firms a less-attractive option for investors.

The White House on Friday announced it will sell two dozen used models of the newest version of the F-16 fighter jet.

“The acquisition and regeneration of 24 F-16C/D aircraft … allows the government of Indonesia to significantly bolster air defense capacity without compromising the defense budget and other national priorities,” the White House said in a statement.