Copyrighted Image? DMCA | Facing the possibility of actual defense spending cuts for the first time since the end of the Cold War, the nation's biggest defense contractors have put aside their traditional hyper-competitiveness and joined forces in a messaging and advocacy blitz under the slogan "Second to None." The past decade has been a particularly lucrative one for U.S.-based defense contractors. Profits have shot up from $6.7 billion in 2001 to $24.8 billion in 2010. Stock prices of defense companies in the S&P 500 index have risen 67 percent, compared to 8 percent for the index as a whole. |