U.S. automatic cuts send Pentagon contract awards down 52 percent

Pentagon contracts tumbled 52 percent in April from a month earlier as across-the-board federal budget cuts took hold. The Defense Department announced awards with a maximum value of $19 billion in April, about 22 percent lower than a year earlier, according to procurement data. The biggest contract, a $6.9 billion network equipment deal, was won by a group of eight companies led by General Dynamics.