Boeing Defence Chief Says: "Keep Spending High"

Tweet If you had any doubts about what our good neighbor, Boeing, is up to, read this very revealing article from the Financial Times. It quotes Boeing's defense chief urging congress that they need to keep the defense funds flowing to combat the GWOT and/or China. Whole article can be found here: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/18567818-1d38-11dc-9b58-000b5df10621.html
Make no mistake about it. Defense contractors are out for blood, literally. And our gov't is their main dealer. Linda

"The Boeing defence chief said he could afford to be "pretty objective" because his company was protected by its booming passenger jet business, unlike defence industry rivals.

"Several high-profile Boeing projects face substantial cuts during the current round of budget negotiations in the Senate and Congress.

"These include the $200bn Future Combat Systems programme to modernise the US army's battlefield equipment, the controversial US missile defence system, and an airborne laser weapon.



******* ARTICLE BEGINS THIS WAY:
"US defence spending needs to be kept at record levels to cope with the continued threat of global terrorism and the emergence of China as a military rival, the head of Boeing's defence business has warned.

"Speaking ahead of the Paris Air Show this week, Jim Albaugh forecast a slowdown in the Pentagon budget but warned that a decline would leave the country relying on old and worn-out weapons after recent conflicts.

"'The question is what happens when we come out of Iraq and Afghanistan and the supplementals [additional payments used to fund the wars] start to dry up," he said.

"'Right now it's a lot different to after the end of the cold war. Then the threat really went away and the equipment for the most part was new."

"Mr Albaugh's assessment of the future defence budget is bleaker than that of his biggest rival, Bob Stevens, chief executive of Lockheed Martin.

"The Boeing defence chief said he could afford to be "pretty objective" because his company was protected by its booming passenger jet business, unlike defence industry rivals.

"Several high-profile Boeing projects face substantial cuts during the current round of budget negotiations in the Senate and Congress.

"These include the $200bn Future Combat Systems programme to modernise the US army's battlefield equipment, the controversial US missile defence system, and an airborne laser weapon.