Company: General Dynamics Corp

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Senate panel voted on Thursday to authorize $631.4 billion in defense spending for the 2013 fiscal year, blocking plans to cut the Air Force and ordering offsetting reductions in Pentagon civilian personnel to stay within the president's budget limits.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Senate panel voted on Thursday to authorize $631.4 billion in defense spending for the 2013 fiscal year, blocking plans to cut the Air Force and ordering offsetting reductions in Pentagon civilian personnel to stay within the president's budget limits.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Senate panel voted on Thursday to authorize $525.8 billion in defense spending for the 2013 fiscal year, blocking President Barack Obama's proposed Air Force cuts while reducing Pentagon civilian personnel to stay within the president's budget limits.

Bath Iron Works shipbuilders who are represented by the international Machinists union have overwhelmingly ratified a new four-year contract that includes pension enhancements and wage increases.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday approved the nominations of seven civilians for senior jobs at the Defense Department, including Frank Kendall to be the Pentagon's chief weapons buyer.

(Reuters) - Graphics chipmaker Nvidia Corp is buying about 500 wireless communications patents from privately held IPWireless, as it locks horns with Qualcomm Inc in the lucrative market for smartphone and tablet chips.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned on Thursday that gridlock in Congress over the Pentagon budget could prevent action to avert another looming cut in spending next year, an outcome top military officials said would be devastating to the services.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Further budget cuts due to take effect in January would cut the U.S. Army by another 100,000 troops, slash the equivalent of the Navy's entire shipbuilding budget, and leave the U.S. Marines without adequate resources to respond to even a single crisis, top military officials told lawmakers on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The first of a new class of U.S. coastal warships will be sent to Singapore next spring for a roughly 10-month deployment, the Navy said on Wednesday, spotlighting a move that may stir China's fears of U.S. involvement in South China Sea disputes.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The first of a new class of U.S. coastal warships will be sent to Singapore next spring for a roughly 10-month deployment, the Navy said on Wednesday, spotlighting a move that may stir China's fears of U.S. involvement in South China Sea disputes.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The first of a new class of U.S. coastal warships will be sent to Singapore next spring for a roughly 10-month deployment, the Navy said on Wednesday, spotlighting a move that may stir China's fears of U.S. involvement in South China Sea disputes.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The first of a new class of U.S. coastal warships will be sent to Singapore next spring for a roughly 10-month deployment, the Navy said on Wednesday, spotlighting a move that may stir China's fears of U.S. involvement in South China Sea disputes.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - General Dynamics Corp, one of the largest U.S. weapons manufacturers, said it plans to acquire privately-held wireless network equipment maker IPWireless Inc as defense spending in the United States begins to decline.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp on Thursday said it had won a contract worth up to $454 million to support the Pentagon's Cyber Crime Center, a government facility that investigates the growing number of attacks on U.S. government networks.

The chief of Naval operations accepted a new attack submarine on behalf of the U.S. military Wednesday and praised the builders for delivering it a year ahead of schedule and under budget.