Report: Defense firm revenues drop 1 percent in 2012

Tom Captain, head of global and U.S. aerospace and defense
analysis for Deloitte, said in a statement releasing the report that the
defense companies are responding to the budget pressures with “stepped up cost
cutting, acquisition activity, growth in adjacent markets and a focus on
cyber-security, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance technologies.”

{mosads}For aerospace companies, however, the 2012 picture is
brighter. Commercial aircraft revenues grew 14.9 percent in 2012 compared to
last year, spurred by record production of fuel-efficient aircraft.

As a result, the combined defense and aerospace sector saw
revenues jump by 5.5 percent compared to the first half of 2011.

The defense budget picture in the U.S. remains
uncertain due to the across-the-board cuts that could cut Pentagon budgets by
$500 billion over the next decade, but no matter what happens with
sequestration, the defense budget is trending downward.

In addition to the drawdowns of the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan, the Pentagon already has plans to cut $487 billion from its budget
over the next 10 years, regardless of the outcome of sequestration.