Bending the Third Rail
Because We Should, We Can, We Do
Friday, January 27, 2006
Lockheed Listening
I guess the defense business has been pretty good:
Lockheed Martin Corp., the Bethesda defense contractor, said yesterday that fourth-quarter profit increased 53 percent, boosted by one-time gains, as results for its signature aircraft business were flat.

Lockheed has increasingly relied on information technology work for the Pentagon and other federal agencies to offset long-term expectations that defense spending on traditional weapons programs will decline. During the fourth quarter, the systems and IT unit reported a 3 percent increase in revenue, to $5.3 billion, and a 6 percent increase in operating profit, to $519 million. Revenue in the aeronautics unit, maker of the F-16 and F-22 fighter jets, increased 1 percent, to $3.04 billion.
Note, the reason for the expectation that "traditional weapons programs will decline" is the result of spending on these programs having been enormously bloated over the past five years.

So, Lockheed is helping out the Pentagon on information gathering. Looks like the new growth industry in the United States. Perhaps we're in for a "information gathering" boom in the economy?
Written at 9:33 AM by Greyhair.
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