Call for defense cuts not sober says U.S AIA

Posted by- Neelam Mathews

July 16, 2011

The lobby against cuts in US defense spending is getting louder. 

Responding to President Obama's remarks on defense spending, Marion Blakey, president and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association, said: "For months, there have been calls from a number of quarters for severe cuts that would undermine our dominance in the skies, fail to recognize the dynamic and changing security realities that we face in an age of asymmetrical warfare and which would undermine our industrial base and research capabilities for decades. 

“Instead of hiding behind abstract numbers pulled from thin air, it’s time for everyone to put their cards on the table. Almost $200 billion in defense spending has already been identified for the chopping block. Those calling for indiscriminate additional cuts should explain specifically how and why these cuts will not cost jobs or compromise our national security.

“When asked about additional cuts in defense spending, the president wisely noted that we are still in the midst of two wars, suggesting that we need a dose of sobriety when it comes to cuts beyond those already made. That sobriety is very welcome. 

“But we also need specifics.

“The U.S. is second to none in aerospace and defense today. Budget proposals that fail to spell out how we maintain that second to none status are not proposals at all, but rather are merely rhetorical posturing. And the abstract calls of some for hundreds of billions in additional cuts don’t seem very sober at all.”

The Aerospace Industries Association is an influential trade association representing the nation’s leading manufacturers and suppliers of civil, military and business aircraft, helicopters, unmanned aircraft systems, space systems, aircraft engines, homeland and cybersecurity systems, materiel and related components, equipment services and information technology.