The number of vendors receiving prime contracts from the Pentagon shrank by 17,000 during the defense drawdown, according to a new report commissioned by the Aerospace Industries Association and undertaken by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The study, according to an executive summary released today , found the number of prime vendors totaled about 78,500 in the period before the drawdown, which began in FY-11. In the FY-13 to FY-15 period, that figure fell to about 61,700. "Although...