BAE Systems to lay off 300 workers

“These reductions are an unfortunate but necessary response
to the reductions in our nation’s defense budget,” BAE spokeswoman Kristin
Gossell said in an email. “They are not a response to the potential impacts of
sequestration.”

{mosads}The layoffs at BAE make it the latest the latest defense firm
to shed some of its workforce as companies prepare for an end to growth in the
Pentagon budget.

BAE said that the 300 layoffs would be spread out among its
11,000-employee workforce, hitting facilities in New Hampshire, New Jersey, New
York, Virginia and Texas. Of the 300 positions being shed, 200 will be from the
company’s Southern New Hampshire facilities.

The defense firm said affected employees would be notified
by March 4.

BAE’s London-based parent company attempted to merge last year with EADS, parent of Europe’s Airbus, which would have made the combined company the largest defense-aerospace firm in the world. The merger
ultimately fell through, however, after European governments with stakes in the companies could not agree to terms in the joint venture.