Defense Dept. Cuts Could Lead To Job Losses In Michigan
A potential cut in the Defense Department budget would cost Michigan workers their jobs.
The Pentagon is ending a multi-billion-dollar push for a new amphibious vehicle for the Marine Corps. It was anticipated the program would have created more than 750 jobs in Michigan over a 14-year period and help save thousands of others.
"The cancellation of this program would impact Michigan in that when we were going to production next year we would have spent two billion dollars in purchase parts from throughout the state," said Peter Keating, vice president of communications with General Dynamics Land Systems in Sterling Heights.
Keating said the vehicle is in the testing stage now and all expectations had production starting next year.
The New York Times, Detroit Free Press and other publications reported Thursday that Gates was considering eliminating the program, which has experienced cost overruns and other problems and dates back to the Reagan administration in the 1980s.
