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ockheed Martin's (LMT) F-35 wowed crowds at the Farnborough Airshow in the U.K. last month... Despite ongoing concerns about its development, the stealth fighter continues to reach key milestones, and production will hit full speed in a few years. Meanwhile, Northrop Grumman (NOC), which is a major subcontractor on the F-35, has locked down the other key piece of the Pentagon's combat aircraft upgrade cycle, winning the B-21 contract last year to build replacements for Cold War-era Boeing (BA) B-52s. With the $400 billion F-35 and $80 billion B-21 contracts in hand, Lockheed and Northrop would appear to have established...

United Technologies Corp. ’s jet-engine unit, Pratt & Whitney, received a $1.5 billion contract from the U.S. Department of Defense to build more engines for its F-35 combat jet program. The deal will cover 99 total engines as well as program management, engineering support, spare modules and spare parts. Pratt said Friday that this is the 10th contract with the government for its F135 propulsion systems, which power the fighter jets. Combined with previous awards for the latest batch of engines, the contract totals $1.95 billion, the company said. The new contract for Pratt comes as Lockheed Martin Corp. is...

Well then, you must like losing your job to someone in Mexico who will make $3/hour. Union leaders at an air conditioner factory in Indianapolis threatened with losing 1,400 jobs to Mexico said on Tuesday the plants owner expects to pay Mexican workers $3 an hour compared to an average of more than $20 an hour for the U.S. workers. "We have not given up the fight yet," said Chuck Jones, president of the United Steelworkers union local that represents workers at the Carrier Corp plant. "But Carrier has pretty well indicated that the wage differential is too great and...

United Technologies Corp. says it may furlough more than 5,000 workers if the U.S. government shutdown continues into next month. The company said Wednesday that its Sikorsky division, which makes Black Hawk helicopters, would be hit first. … The Hartford, Conn.-based manufacturer said it would halt some defense manufacturing because government inspectors themselves have been furloughed. That leaves it without the necessary federal approvals to make military products. …

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- United Technologies Corp., continuing to broaden its security business and expand its presence in China, said Sunday it has made an offer to buy Diebold Inc. for $2.63 billion. United Technologies, parent company of jet engine-maker Pratt & Whitney, Otis elevator and Sikorsky Aircraft, said it made the unsolicited offer Friday after trying to negotiate a deal with Diebold for two years. Diebold, based in Canton, Ohio, makes ATMs, business security systems and voting machines. The $2.63 billion purchase price represents United Technologies' offer of $40 per outstanding share, about two-thirds higher than Diebold's closing stock...

Alliant Techsystems, Lockheed Martin, and Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne have presented to NASA an oral summary of their proposal for the Ares I Upper Stage. The proposal has been delivered in stages over the last month and culminated with the submittal of the cost volume last week. The three companies have developed a complementary relationship, leveraging their strong experience and capabilities on NASA Human Space Flight programs to provide the Ares I project a springboard to minimize program costs, maintain aggressive development and test schedules, and reduce the technical risk going forward. "We have been preparing for this procurement for...