Spotlight On Defense

Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Thursday said he's proposing that the state issue $87 million in bonds to help Lockheed Martin land a defense contract for its south Arkansas facility.

The Italian navy has placed a 3.5 billion euro ($3.9 billion) order for six patrol boats capable of high seas rescues and a support ship as part of a program to upgrade its fleet.

A retired Army colonel has pleaded guilty to negotiating his post-military employment with a helicopter company that did business with the Defense Department office he managed.

The secretary of the Navy has reprimanded three rear admirals in a case linked to a massive bribery scandal, but they won't face criminal charges.

Communications and information technology company Harris is buying Exelis in a cash-and-stock deal valued at approximately $4.75 billion.

A former senior Defense Department employee was arrested Tuesday on allegations he accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in exchange for helping a Malaysian defense contractor, in one of the Navy's worst corruption cases.

A Maryland construction company has admitted to orchestrating phony partnerships to get millions in District of Columbia government contracts and agreed to pay a $2 million fine, ending a two-year fraud investigation.

A member of the House Armed Services Committee is calling for an investigation of a former Army official who played a key role in the service's struggling intelligence program while allowing people to believe he earned a Ph.D. that he did does not hold.

The Army has awarded $80 million in helicopter contracts to Wall Street executive Lynn Tilton even as the Justice Department investigates whether she played by the rules to win earlier military work.

General Dynamics has landed a $5.76 billion contract to make armored vehicles for Britain.

Britain's government says it will pay some 224 million pounds ($373 million) to defense firm Raytheon Systems Ltd. for unlawfully ending a contract for a program meant to collect information in advance about passengers traveling to and from Britain.

The truck maker plans to cut a total of 900 positions in its defense division starting in June, citing a decline in production amid reduced DoD budgets.

Twitter is suing the FBI and the Department of Justice to be able to release more information about government surveillance of its users.

A video game distributor says Thailand's film and video censors have banned a city-building simulation game for computers because it could hurt the country's security.

Lockheed Martin's CFO said he was hopeful 2014 would mark a 'bottoming out' in U.S. military spending, with budget agreements providing a more stable outlook. United Swings to 4Q Profit | Futures Lower Ahead of Data, Earnings | 

Northrop Grumman agreed to buy the defense unit of Qantas Airways, as the military contractor seeks to increase its international exposure.

The U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs was hit with a federal lawsuit on behalf of seven veterans who allege they have waited years for records needed to file for disability benefits.

URS blamed the government’s partial shutdown for having to temporarily furlough 3,000 employees.

The fallout from the NSA's spying programs are hurting U.S.-based technology companies and their ability to attract foreign business. 

In the wake of new regulations in their northern home states, gun makers like Remington and Ruger are going to the Carolinas, Alabama and other areas in the South for a place to open up shop.