The Insider

Raytheon said today it will expand its 1,000-employee facility in Indianapolis and add about 250 jobs. The facility focuses on soldier-worn computers, weapons systems sustainment, supply chain management and systems engineering for commercial businesses and the military.

The contractor said the enlargement marks the largest expansion of the workforce there since Raytheon took over the facility in 1998.

Engility said today that sales in its most recent quarter declined to $319.5 million, down nearly 3 percent from the same three-month period a year earlier.

Profit fell more steeply, down to $3.5 million from $11.6 million in the same quarter last year.

Tony Smeraglinolo, Engility's chief executive, said in the announcement that the company is still experiencing delayed contract awards and start dates.

David Thompson, the chief executive of Orbital ATK, said at a J.P. Morgan conference today that in the mid- to long-term, the company may seek acquisitions or reshape its business.

Speaking at the New York City event, Thompson said that the $4.4 billion company, created last month by merging Orbital with ATK's defense and aerospace groups, is still in the early stages of its integration process.

"I do like the mix of businesses we have today," he added.

However, the company may make changes in the future.

"I wouldn't rule out over the mid- to long-term either smaller acquisitions to enhance what we have or potentially shaping the portfolio in other ways," Thompson said. "But at this point, I think it's premature really to speculate on how that might play out."

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems has teamed up with a Spanish firm to offer its multimission MQ-9 Reaper to Spain, which has a requirement for a new surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft.

The union between GA-ASI and SENER, a Spanish technology company, comes just weeks after the Obama administration announced a new policy on the export of these types of remotely piloted aircraft. The MQ-9 is marketed abroad as the Predator B.

"GA-ASI is fully committed to working with Spanish industry as we believe this program's success requires local industry partnerships that provide collaborative innovation in enhancing the capabilities of Predator B for the Spanish Government," GA-ASI Aircraft Systems President Frank Pace said in a March 2 press statement.

The offer to Spain comes after the State Department approved the sale of MQ-9s to the Netherlands and an announcement by Australia that some of its airmen are in the United States learning to fly the Reaper.

The United Kingdom, France and Italy have each stood up Reaper squadrons and Germany is interest in acquiring a similar capability through the foreign military sales process.

In the press statement, SENER Vice President Andrés Sendagorta said the company is pleased to partner with the GA-ASI on "this challenging project" to supply the Reaper to the Spanish Ministry of Defense.

Exelis, which has agreed to be acquired by Harris, reported today that its sales and profit in 2014 fell.

The contractor boosted its sales of products slightly to $2.1 billion, but services revenue fell slightly to cut total annual sales to just shy of $3.3 million, down about 2 percent from 2013.

Profit reached $249 million, down from $281 million the previous year. The contractor said revenue in its C4ISR electronics and systems segment rose slightly, buoyed by increased sales of airborne and ship-based electronic warfare equipment. Exelis' information and technical services business saw sales decline, "driven by lower activity on the U.S. Air Force Spacelift Range Services program and several other services contracts."

Earlier this month, Harris said it had agreed to acquire Exelis in a $4.75 billion deal that marks a major step to consolidate the defense industry.

Law firm Kelley Drye & Warren is building up its government contracts practice group, adding partners Dorn "Bo" McGrath and William Jack as well as associate Amba Datta.

McGrath and Jack join from Barnes & Thornburg, where they were both partners in the firm's corporate department. McGrath focuses on federal, state and local contracts and construction contracts, while Jack represents contractors before the Government Accountability Office, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and the Board of Contract Appeals.

Datta was previously a law clerk for a judge at the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

Kelley Drye said in its announcement that the firm saw significant growth in its contracting practice in 2014.

Marion Blakey will be stepping down as president and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association to become president and CEO of Rolls Royce North America, according to an announcement from AIA.

AIA noted that Blakey "led the establishment of a broad-ranging campaign to alert elected officials and the general public of the significant impact to our nation and the aerospace and defense industry of sequestration and budget cuts imposed under the Budget Control Act of 2011."

Despite this advocacy, the BCA defense cuts are still poised to occur when sequestration is triggered in fiscal year 2016 unless Congress overturns the law.

"I'm very proud of AIA's record of achievement these last seven years," Blakey said in the statement. "I strongly believe we've strengthened AIA and better positioned the organization and our member companies to inform and influence the debate on key issues facing our country and our industry in the coming years."

Blakey's successor has yet to be named.