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Will democratic administration be good for defense electronics funding?


Wednesday, November 19, 2008


Posted by John McHale

Walking the show floor at MILCOM 08 in San Diego the last three days I sensed a good deal of optimism among exhibitors and attendees about defense electronics funding under a Barack Obama administration.

The consensus is that while a democratic administration will likely cut back on boots and bullets, they will also be prone to spend more on technology for C4ISR, or command, control, communications, computers, surveillance, and reconnaissance, applications to remain vigilant without putting troops in harm's way.

Unmanned systems, already a decisive force on the battlefield, should proliferate even more under this scenario, which is good news for our community.

One of the members of our Military & Aerospace Electronics Forum advisory board also pointed out to me that the Bush/Cheney administration killed more programs than the Clinton administration.

He said that a democratic administration is more likely to scale back production rather than kill an entire program. Killing programs also means eliminating jobs on a large scale, something a democratic administration might be loathe doing in this economic climate.

The optimism is good news, but it's still a guessing game as to where Obama will make his cuts in defense and he will make them.

Post a Comment

1 Comments:
Blogger ravenleaderMACV said...
I believe the Obama administration will be good overall for the defense industry in two ways. One is morally and the other is economically.
Morally speaking if he keeps to his campaign promises and draws down troop levels in Iraq, fewer soldiers have to get harmed or killed and to me that’s a good thing.
Economically I look to history and the period after Viet Nam that led to increased defense expenditures paying to replace the equipment that was broken, or destroyed during that conflict. Also once the lessons were learned from Viet Nam the defense planners overcame the perceived battlefield lessons which led to an increase in technology development in the form of smart bombs, better performing platforms, etc.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008 11:58:00 AM EST  


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Welcome to the lighter side of Military & Aerospace Electronics. This is where our staff recount tales of the strange, the weird, and the otherwise offbeat. We could put news here, but we have the rest of our Website for that. Enjoy our scribblings, and feel free to add your own opinions. You might also get to know us in the process. Proceed at your own risk.

John Keller for MAE
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.


Courtney Howard for MAE Courtney E. Howard is senior editor of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine. She is responsible for writing news stories and feature articles for the print publication, as well as composing daily news for the magazine's Website and assembling the weekly electronic newsletter. Her features have appeared in such high-tech trade publications as Military & Aerospace Electronics, Computer Graphics World, Electronic Publishing, Small Times, and The Audio Amateur.


John McHale for MAE John McHale is executive editor of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, where he has been covering the defense Industry for more than dozen years. During that time he also led PennWell's launches of magazines and shows on homeland security and a defense publication and website in Europe. Mr. McHale has served as chairman of the Military & Aerospace Electronics Forum and its Advisory Council since 2004. He lives in Boston with his golf clubs.

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