The Defense Department recently gave the company’s Connecticut-based aeronautics subsidiary a $2.5 billion contract without competition to provide propeller systems, wheels and brakes, landing gear, flight sensors and other equipment directly to the armed services. The award followed an earlier $2.74 billion sole-sourced Air Force contract handed to Pratt & Whitney, another United Technologies subsidiary. It comes as United Technologies is moving forward with a $30 billion merger with Rockwell Collins, another aerospace parts manufacturer. Four days after Trump visited Indianapolis to celebrate the Carrier deal, United Technologies chief executive Hayes said in a television interview that he planned to invest in automation, reducing the need for human labor. Some Carrier workers expressed resignation that they would see little benefit from the big defense deals.

Source: Washington Post February 23, 2018 15:35 UTC