Aerospace and Defense Sector

New Blackwater Ruling

A Blackwater State

Another Blackwater Mark

War is, Hell, Profitable

Inslee on Tanker Flap: "Bigger Is Not Always Better"

Poor WSF Just Can't Catch a Break

Boeing: Airbus' Bird Is Too Big, and Too Costly

Citizens Against Government Waste to Boeing: Up Yours

Boeing Wins Tanker Protest

Wanted: A few good hippies

News Clips— Broken contract?

Boeing's Misconduct

Todd Will Build New Ferry for Port Townsend/Keystone Route

WSF announced the $65.5 million deal today. Todd Shipyards will build a 64-car/750-passenger ferry to be delivered in 18 months. In April, WSF rejected Todd's $26 million bid to build a 50-car ferry that was $9 million over the agency's estimate. Full press release after the jump.

Blackwater Lawsuit

  Harley Miller The indictment of five Blackwater guards for allegedly killing 17 Iraqis in 2007 - including one with his hands up - begs the question of whether ex-Seattle Blackwater guard Andrew Mullen will separately be indicted. The Justice Department is not yet saying whether its ... More >>

Bob Gates' Boeing Par-tees

The Boeing Co. was among the big defense contractors who threw $340,000 worth of parties and other events to honor Defense Sect. Robert Gates last year, reports public watchdog CREW, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (D.C.). But Gates, the Bush-administration holdover who continue ... More >>

Lawsuit: Blackwater Shooting 'Senseless'

When a drunken Andrew Moonen of Seattle pulled out his Blackwater-issued Glock on Christmas Eve 2006 and shot an Iraqi vice presidential guard to death in Baghdad, it was for no reason, claims a lawsuit filed yesterday in California. Blackwater, the quasi-military/mercenary force now going by the na ... More >>

Stay Together, Carry a Gun, Protect the Hill

Frustrated by what they view as police indifference, a group of Beacon Hill residents takes to the streets packing heat.

Lazy B's Other Problem

Cost increases and delays seem likely for its current U.S. Army project.

Krist Novoselic on Media Consolidation; More on Blackwater; Gregoire's Shrinking Staff

Selections from our news blog, the Daily Weekly.

Welcome Aboard Blackwater Airlines

After a deadly crash, one Washington family tries to bring the notorious military contractor to account.

Boeing, County Politics, City Politics, Quote

After a deadly crash, one Washington family tries to bring the notorious military contractor to account.

Business, The Police, Media

After a deadly crash, one Washington family tries to bring the notorious military contractor to account.

Airbus America

The European plane maker wants to build aerial tankers in the U.S. So Washington state is wooing Airbus to locate here, as it did with Boeing, right? Right? Wrong.

Bad News Boeing

Since Phil Condit took over, it's been one thing after another. And the bigger Boeing's grown, the more unmanageable it's become.

Ethics Ain't Rocket Science

And so Boeing sends its workers to school for a day.

Boeing's war

Will growth in military business offset the decline in commercial jet building?

High-flying crime

Boeing's latest fine sends its corporate rap sheet soaring to $100 million in the last three years.

Whadchagit?

Boeing's latest fine sends its corporate rap sheet soaring to $100 million in the last three years.

Death to the highest bidder

Boeing's latest fine sends its corporate rap sheet soaring to $100 million in the last three years.

Seattle Blackwater Guard Dropped from Suit

In a strange turnabout, former Blackwater guard Andrew Moonen of Seattle has been dropped as a defendant in a re-filed lawsuit that alleges he killed an Iraqi security guard for no reason. A newly revised civil complaint in the federal suit, originally filed in March, still claims he was the one who ... More >>

Boeing News Roundup: Jim Cramer Says Buy!

This probably would've been worth more to the aerospace giant in those days before The Daily Show made Jim Cramer the poster child for irresponsible financial press cheerleading. But for those who think he got a raw deal or just like to keep tabs on him, CNBC's manic market-watcher says a (predicted ... More >>

Blackwater: Pulp Non-Fiction

​Exploding bullets, serial murders, a plot to wipe out Muslims. What does it say about Blackwater today when the weirdest part isn't that Mary Kay Letournau is a sister of one of the mercenary corporation's top executives? (And that her south King County home is just a few miles from that of a ... More >>

Where Do Old Boeing Jets Go?, Revisited

​Sometimes they take a while to enter the marketplace, but once Boeing jets leave, they're put to all sorts of uses you might never imagine. Previously, we learned they're used as luxury homes and hotels, as well as boats and restaurants. Today, we learn that they're also recycled into beer ... More >>

What's "Justice" Got to Do With the Boeing/Airbus Tanker Battle?

Hey, he got more!​In case you didn't know, Boeing and Airbus are battling to win a tanker contract from the US government. Boeing's supporters, like Patty Murray, are crying foul over the subsidies Airbus gets from European countries--subsidies deemed illegal in a preliminary ruling by the Wor ... More >>

Ex-Blackwater Guard Evades Shooting Blame

​For all the spilled ink and spent cyberspace, former Blackwater guard Andrew Moonen remains a free man walking after he shot and killed an Iraqi vice presidential guard in Baghdad's Green Zone three years ago. A lawsuit by the victim's widow, filed in March, ran into a legal buzzsaw and Moone ... More >>

Boeing, South Carolina, and the Race to the Bottom

Buh-Bye​Boeing's announcement that it will locate its 787 final-assembly plant in South Carolina has led to predictable condemnation of Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire. It seems she just didn't do enough to kowtow to the aerospace giant. Republicans, who portray themselves as stout protecto ... More >>

Boeing's Race to the Bottom

Washington state still has an unfortunate habit of paying workers a decent wage.

Irish Bookies Bet on Boeing Dreamliner to Fly First

Tony the Bookie will gladly take action on Boeing. After all, business is business.​God bless the Irish. More specifically, god bless the Irish who think that nothing is too weird to wager on. Paddy Power, the country's largest bookmaker, is now taking bets on which airline will be the first ... More >>

Dubai Debt Threatens Boeing

Dubai, the very picture of modesty and moderation, feels the credit crunch.​Have global economy. Have global economic problems. Boeing's recent move to South Carolina may have saved the jet-maker a couple bucks on non-union labor. But it looks like that money might be needed immediately now t ... More >>

Ex-Blackwater Guard Andrew Moonen's Case Just Got Stronger

The case against ex-Blackwater guard Andrew Moonen may benefit from another ruling.​Andrew Moonen is the Seatteite and ex-Blackwater guard who killed one of the Iraqi Vice President's security guards on Christmas Eve 2006. Depending on who you ask, the shooting was either a drunken murder or s ... More >>

Bombing Death of Dane Paresi, Others, Sparks a New Congressional Look at Blackwater-CIA Contracting

Dane Paresi, shielded others in blast​The December suicide-bombing by an Al Qaeda double agent that killed former Fort Lewis green beret Dane Paresi and six others at a CIA office in Afghanistan has led to yet another congressional review of Paresi's civilian employer, Xe, formerly known as Bl ... More >>

Lockheed Martin Memorializes John Murtha in Full-Page Ad

TPMDearest John, Thanks for the cash.​Since corporations are people now, I guess it's OK to address them as such. So quit being an idiot, Lockheed Martin. Most people already presume that big defense giants like you are in bed with powerful legislators like the late Rep. John Murtha. So maybe ... More >>

Settlement Looming in Blackwater 61 Crash, Death of Army Spc. Harley Miller

It has been almost six years since the crash of Blackwater 61 in the mountains of Afghanistan and three years since Seattle Weekly first detailed the negligence surrounding the deaths of three U.S. service members. Army Spc. Harley Miller of Spokane, along with Chief Warrant Officer Travis Groga ... More >>

Boeing 787 Dreamliner Wing Break Test

Boeing Co.​ Da-yum. That's what Boeing's 787 Dreamliner looks like in the midst of its ultimate wing load test. In order to pass (which it did) the Dreamliner had to withstand an upward flex of 25 feet. Which made it look about as much like a bird in flight as is possible for a carbon fiber e ... More >>

Patty Murray v. Richard Shelby: Brawl of the Week

​Patty Murray has resumed a fight she picked last December with the state of Alabama over who should get to build 179 tankers for the Air Force. Murray joined Gov. Chris Gregoire in Everett this week, to trumpeting Boeing as the best company to build the planes. According to the company, th ... More >>

Airbus to Make See-Through Planes; Your Move, Boeing

​European plane-maker Airbus recently asked its engineers to lock themselves in a room, eat their weight in peyote and dream up the Aircraft of the Future. What they came up with were morphing seats that conform to a person's shape, holographic projections that can change a private cabin into ... More >>

WTO: Boeing Received Some $24 Billion in Illegal Subsidies From U.S. Government

​The latest ruling in the Europe/America-gives-illegal-money-to-its-principal-aircraft-manufacturer saga has been handed down. And the score stands at 1-1.

Boeing Co. Gouges Taxpayers $1,679 for $8 Spare Part: So That's How it Made a Profit!

​A week after Boeing announced a 13 percent, $586 million first-quarter profit, we learn about some oldie-but-goodie sales practices that have helped keep the Lazy B solvent: Charging $644.75 for a tiny plastic motor gear that should cost only $12.51, and pricing a dime-sized plastic roller as ... More >>

Is Boeing Heading from Second Place to First Loser?

image sourceThe 737 is dead! Long live the 737!​Imagine this scenario: Sometime in the mid-1990's, the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox managed to muscle out or swallow up every other team in Major League Baseball, and since then have played every game of every season, from spring train ... More >>

Final Score for 2011: Airbus, 1,419 New Orders; Boeing, 805 New Orders

​For the fourth consecutive year, Airbus has won the new-orders battle with Boeing. The European jet maker believes its success over its American rival can be largely attributed to strong demand for its revamped single-aisle plane.