(Reuters) – Commercial aviation and defense companies are grappling with dwindling U.S. defense spending, an uncertain fate for U.S. export financing and questions about the readiness of the Pentagon’s top weapons program, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
After surging in 2013, both sectors have struggled in 2014 as investors feared more cost pressure on defense contractors and an end to the boom in commercial aircraft orders.
The 10th annual Reuters Aerospace and Defense Summit will delve into these and other questions in meetings with top government officials and executives from U.S. and European aerospace and defense firms in Washington, D.C., Sept. 9-11.