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thedrifter
04-03-09, 08:13 AM
US weapons cuts could put N.E. jobs in jeopardy

By Bryan Bender, Globe Staff | April 3, 2009

WASHINGTON - Defense contractors, high-tech firms, and manufacturing plants are bracing for thousands of potential layoffs across New England resulting from the Obama administration's plans to cancel or delay key weapons programs, according to company officials, union representatives, and members of Congress.

A metal works plant in North Grafton, Mass., that shapes titanium for use in the Air Force's F-22 fighter jet stands to lose as much as one-fifth of its workforce if production is halted, while more than 2,000 jobs could be lost at divisions of United Technologies in Connecticut that build the jet's engine and electrical power systems, officials say.

More than 2,000 employees at Raytheon Co. facilities in Tewksbury, Andover, and Portsmouth, R.I., are working on the combat and radar systems for the Navy's Zumwalt class destroyer, another program widely expected to be cut. Many workers could lose their jobs or be transferred out of the area if construction of the warship is halted, according to the officials.

And firms large and small - including General Dynamics in Taunton and iRobot in Bedford - are keeping a close eye on the fate of the Army's set of next-generation ground combat vehicles, which rely on a host of computer systems and communications developed in the Bay State, but are also on the chopping block.

"All the major programs that are being discussed would have a Massachusetts or New England impact," said a Senate aide who is tracking the budget deliberations to gauge how they might effect the region's economy, which is already struggling in the deepening recession.

The Obama administration is about to unveil a Pentagon spending plan that officials say will slash weapons programs identified as either too costly or not meeting the urgent needs of the military in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates stayed behind in Washington, even with President Obama attending a NATO summit starting today in France, to iron out the final details of what he calls a "strategic reshaping" of the Pentagon's investment strategy.

Gates's office has said that jobs will not be a factor in the Defense Department's deliberations.

"It's not the responsibility of this building to worry about the economic impact of budgetary decisions," Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell told reporters recently. "It's the responsibility of the secretary and this building to provide recommendations to the president about what's in the best interest of our national security."

But the economic impact of the cuts - especially at a time when the job market is already under strain - is clearly on the minds of company executives, workers, and their elected representatives in Washington. Yesterday, the Labor Department reported initial claims for unemployment insurance rose last week to 669,000 nationwide, the most in more than 26 years.

As the battle to save defense programs picks up in Congress, some analysts warn to watch out for misleading statements about job losses from companies and lawmakers.

"They are going to use the most inflated assessments," said Philip Finnegan, director of corporate analysis at the Teal Group. "They are using those figures in lobbying."

Terminating production of the F-22 Raptor fighter could have the most immediate impact at multiple companies across New England, say company officials, union representatives, and lawmakers. The stealthy supersonic fighter, which has never been in combat, costs about $143 million each. Gates opposes adding to the 183 already built or on order, but the Air Force wants 60 more, at a cost of $9 billion.

Its supporters assert that the F-22 program sustains more than 25,000 jobs in 44 states. In Connecticut, the jet's engines are built by Pratt & Whitney in East Hartford, and its electrical power systems and engine controls are under contract to Hamilton Sundstrand with locations in Farmington and Windsor Locks.

Louis Chenevert, CEO of the two companies' parent, United Technologies, told a local chamber of commerce last month that an F-22 production halt could deal a severe blow to the highly skilled work forces at both divisions.

More than 2,000 jobs would be eliminated if the program is canceled, Erin Dick, communications manager for Pratt & Whitney Military Engines, said in a statement.

Precision Castparts in North Grafton also has a major stake in the F-22 program. The 1-million-square-foot plant - which forges titanium, nickel, and steel alloys for commercial and military aircraft - could lose 100 of its 533 jobs, Paul Bartholomew, president of United Steelworkers Union Local 2285, told Bloomberg News last month.

And BAE Systems in Nashua has 1,400 workers helping to build the electronic defensive components for the fighter. Kelly French, the company's director of F-22 programs, said the BAE work force should be stable, at least in "the near-term," but if new orders don't arrive this month, many of its 60 smaller suppliers in New Hampshire and Massachusetts would take a hit.

Meanwhile, the fate of the DDG-1000 destroyer program has members of Congress from Maine to Rhode Island worried about job losses. In a letter to Gates last week, a group of New England lawmakers lobbied the Pentagon to buy at least one more of the $2.6 billion destroyers, which are designed as heavily armed stealth warships that would pave the way for amphibious landings by Marines.

General Dynamics' Bath Iron Works in Maine, which is building one of the first two ships, could feel a pinch without the work. The destroyer is also considered by some specialists to be the linchpin of Waltham-based Raytheon's ability to compete in the market for naval combat systems, which was dominated by its rival Lockheed Martin before the company was awarded a major contract on the DDG-1000 program.

"If Raytheon doesn't do something to break into that position they will be locked out," said Stuart Slade, senior naval editor at Forecast International, a defense consulting firm. "In the old days if you didn't get one ship you got another one. DDG-1000 was pretty much the whole game" for Raytheon.

In the short term, Raytheon, as well as other smaller subcontractors on the project across the region, could lose significant work.

"The continued production of DDG-1000 destroyers will preserve hundreds of jobs in Rhode Island during tough economic times," said Senator Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat who was joined by Senators Edward M. Kennedy and John F. Kerry of Massachusetts in advocating for the ship to Gates.

The fate of the $160 billion Army's Future Combat System is also being closely watched. Bedford-based iRobot has received a total of $63 million in contracts for the program since 2003, including for 25 small vehicle robots.

Other companies, such as General Dynamics in Taunton, have a stake in the communications system that was designed for the program, though some of those underlying technologies are expected to survive the budget axe.

Bryan Bender can be reached at bender@globe.com.

Ellie