US prime defence contractors have reported declining sales for the third quarter of 2013 as some of their businesses are affected by the current budget situation.
It has mainly been short-cycle businesses that have been impacted with the larger backlogs of longer-cycle businesses securing steady revenue.
Marilyn Hewson, CEO and president of Lockheed Martin, told reporters in a conference call: ‘With the closure of government’s FY2013 we can now determine that budget reduction actions implemented under sequestration will result in limited impact to our portfolio programmes in 2013, with impacts seen primarily on our short-cycle business.’
Further, Northrop Grumman