NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. Defense Department may fund initial work on a new military helicopter in a year or two to preserve industry’s critical design capabilities for that sector, the Pentagon’s chief weapons buyer said on Wednesday.

Defense Undersecretary Frank Kendall told an investor conference he was concerned that the U.S. defense industry could lose the capacity to generate new designs for military helicopters because the Pentagon had not funded development of a new attack helicopter for many years.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Lockheed Martin Corp and the Defense Department are nearing agreement on a long-delayed contract for a fifth batch of F-35 fighter jets, the Pentagon’s chief weapons buyer told Reuters on Wednesday.

“I think we’re getting close,” Defense Undersecretary Frank Kendall told Reuters after a speech to an investor conference hosted by Credit Suisse.

STRATFORD, Connecticut (Reuters) – The U.S. defense budget is under intense pressure as automatic spending cuts loom, but Sikorsky Aircraft says the longer-term outlook for military helicopters remains bright given several new programs getting started in the United States and strong overseas demand.

Samir Mehta, president of Sikorsky military systems, said in an interview that he is confident that two of the biggest opportunities for his company – a U.S. Air Force competition for new search and rescue helicopters and a U.S. Navy competition for new presidential helicopters – will survive, even if the Pentagon is forced to make additional budget cuts.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Come January, women will head three of the six largest U.S. weapons makers, a sign that their clout in the male-dominated industry is growing.

But executives and experts say the trend may be short-lived unless more young women choose engineering careers and defense companies figure out how to keep them.

By Andrea Shalal-Esa

(Reuters) – The Marine Corps on Tuesday established its first operational squadron of F-35 fighter jets at an air station in Yuma, Arizona, a move that officials said showed progress on the Pentagon’s biggest and most scrutinized weapons program.

Three F-35B fighters built by Lockheed Martin Corp have already arrived at the base, with 13 more to come over the next year. The service has also spent about half a billion dollars to build new hangars for the planes, a high-end flight simulator for training pilots, and maintenance facilities, according to Captain Staci Reidinger, a spokeswoman for the base.

BALTIMORE (Reuters) – Latinos, African-Americans and other minorities who helped President Barack Obama win a second term are skeptical about enhanced Republican outreach to their communities, but also say the future of the coalition that shaped the 2012 election may be fragile.

Top Republicans rushed to do damage control last week after Mitt Romney blamed his election loss on what he called an Obama strategy of giving “gifts” to blacks, Latinos and young voters – groups instrumental to the president’s re-election victory.

WASHINGTON, Nov 16 (Reuters) – When computer “hackers”
working for the U.S. Navy succeeded in breaking into the
computer logistics system that controls the Lockheed Martin Corp
F-35 Joint Strike Fighter earlier this year, they did
the company a favor: allowing it to fix a critical vulnerability
in the $396 billion program.

Now, as the Marine Corps prepares to set up its first
operational squadron of F-35s next week, some experts say other
security risks may lurk within such a large and highly networked
weapons support system.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – When computer “hackers” working for the U.S. Navy succeeded in breaking into the computer logistics system that controls the Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 Joint Strike Fighter earlier this year, they did the company a favor: allowing it to fix a critical vulnerability in the $396 billion program.

Now, as the Marine Corps prepares to set up its first operational squadron of F-35s next week, some experts say other security risks may lurk within such a large and highly networked weapons support system.

WASHINGTON, Nov 16 (Reuters) – When computer “hackers”
working for the U.S. Navy succeeded in breaking into the
computer logistics system that controls the Lockheed Martin Corp
F-35 Joint Strike Fighter earlier this year, they did
the company a favor: allowing it to fix a critical vulnerability
in the $396 billion program.

Now, as the Marine Corps prepares to set up its first
operational squadron of F-35s next week, some experts say other
security risks may lurk within such a large and highly networked
weapons support system.

WASHINGTON/CHICAGO (Reuters) – Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Wednesday that it could not explain the huge jump in trading in its stock options last week, hours ahead of the surprising news that its incoming chief executive had resigned after admitting to an ethics breach.

The remarkable spike in trading of bearish positions about two hours before Friday’s closing bell – many times the volume typically traded in the defense company’s options – is likely to raise red flags with regulators.