Defense spending fuels Aerospace growth.

• Author: Fein, Geoff S.
• Position: Washington Pulse - Brief Article

Aerospace industry sales to the Defense Department increased by $1.1 billion to $59 billion in 2003 and are expected to grow next year to at least $61 billion, according to John W. Douglass, president and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association. Missile sales also increased by 1.8 percent to $12.9 billion.

Defense-related research and development spending has grown faster than projected. AIA had lobbied for approximately $50 billion in federal spending over a five-year period. The Bush administration nearly doubled that amount in four years, providing more than $90 billion for research and development with most of that going to defense, said Douglass.

Additional investments are needed in the U.S. intelligence budget, he said. "For every bit of money that we invest...