It looks like defense contractors “dodged the bullet” in the budget cuts proposed Thursday by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, according to a report by Lexington Institute defense analyst Loren Thompson.
The big news in the proposal is what didn’t happen, Thompson said. After cutting future weapons outlays by $330 billion in previous budget cuts, Gates cut almost nothing this time.
Boeing fared well, he said. The latest delay in the F-35 joint strike fighter program created demand for the F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter. And the acceleration of the Next Generation Jammer guarantees Boeing work on the electronic warfare version of the Super Hornet, the EA-18G Growler.
