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Tuesday, January 7, 2014

BAE picks former General Dynamics exec to head U.S. unit, (NYSE: GD)

British defense contractor BAE Systems Plc appointed Jerry DeMuro to head its U.S. business, pinning its hopes on the former General Dynamics executive to steer it through U.S. military cuts that are set to bite over the next decade.DeMuro, who will begin as president and chief executive of the U.S. unit on Feb. 1, will replace Linda Hudson who announced her retirement in August last year. BAE's U.S. business accounts for about 40 percent of its total revenues.Defense suppliers to the U.S. face a challenging time over the next decade, given $487 billion in planned cuts to the U.S. military budget, and additional sizeable reductions mandated by Congress.DeMuro follows Hudson to BAE from U.S. weapons manufacturer General Dynamics. He was previously executive vice president and corporate vice president at General Dynamics's $11 billion information systems and technology group. DeMuro was passed over for the top position at General Dynamics in late 2012, a job now held by Phebe Novakovic.

General Dynamics Corporation is an aerospace and defense company that offers a portfolio of products and services in business aviation; combat vehicles, weapons systems and munitions; military and commercial shipbuilding, and communications and information technology. Shares of GD traded higher by 0.85% or $0.8/share to $95.26. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $64.47 and as high as $95.76. On average, 1338170 shares of GD exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 610633.



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