Rep. Buck McKeon, right, Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, shakes hands with workers at Northrop Grumman in Palmdale this spring. (Al Seib, Los Angeles Times / April 2, 2012)
U.S. Military Contractors Prepare For Possible Budget Cuts -- L.A. Times
Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Boeing could lay off thousands of aerospace workers and cancel supplier contracts if Congress doesn't agree by January on reducing the federal deficit.
The nation's military contractors say they are preparing to shut facilities, tear up supplier contracts and issue pink slips to thousands of aerospace employees to deal with proposed federal budget cuts threatening to hit Pentagon spending.
After a decade of heady growth amid the military buildup following Sept. 11, 2001, contractors had already braced themselves for $487 billion in cuts over the next decade. But an additional $500 billion in cuts are now being discussed in Washington.
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