With or without Uncle Sam, the market looks bullet-proof

Dec 01, 2008 | 07:48 AM |

Talk that the U.S. Army might cut billions of dollars in funding for heavy military ground vehicles to help finance its Future Combat Systems (FCS) modernization effort has raised some eyebrows in the steel plate industry.

But even if the cuts take place, producers contend the overall impact on their order books would be minimal and largely offset by strong demand elsewhere.

The shift in funding would dramatically reduce spending for such military vehicles as Abrams tanks, M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and Stryker wheeled combat vehicles. The cuts, which would be part of the Army's six-year budget plan for fiscal 2010 through 2015, must be approved by Pentagon leaders before being incorporated into a Defense budget proposal for 2010.....