Indiana's Defense Contractors can Weather Pentagon Budget Cuts, Officials Say
July 14, 2012
Selling everything from armored vehicles to packaged meals, there's no doubt Indiana companies have bulked up on military contracts during the past decade's war on terror.
Since 2001, the Pentagon has doled out $43 billion in contracts in Indiana, and the number of contractors winning a piece of the action has jumped from 362 to more than 1,100.
But there's also little doubt that, with the war in Iraq at an end and the Afghanistan conflict winding down, the militarily flush times are turning leaner.
"Money's headed south. Everybody's scared of what the future holds. They're talking about layoffs," said Carlos Gaitani, chief operating officer of Tri Star Engineering in Bedford, which does engineering support for weapons systems and other defense electronic needs.