Boeing Co. said Wednesday it plans to cut about 1,000 workers in two defense industry programs with operations in Orange County.
The Chicago-based company cited Pentagon cutbacks and shifting spending priorities for the layoffs.
It’s unclear what specific sites would be affected, a spokeswoman said, other than that some of the cuts would take place in Southern California.
It’s also unclear whether the announcement is part of the 10,000 jobs Boeing said it would cut companywide earlier this year.
Boeing is the fourth largest employer in the county with about 9,200 workers.
One of the impacted programs is Future Combat Systems, which has a large number of workers in Huntington Beach.
The program is set to overhaul the Army’s communications systems with robotic sensors and surveillance capabilities.
It was nearly halved after Defense Secretary Robert Gates cut the vehicle portion of the project, which represented $87 billion of the $160 billion allocated for it.
The unmanned planes and robotic fighter planes portion of the program were said to remain intact.
About 50 OC suppliers are working on the program, including Huntington Beach-based System of Systems Integration Laboratory, which handles modeling and simulation, computers and software and testing.
San Diego-based SAIC Inc., which has offices in Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley, Brea and Seal Beach, is a lead contractor.
Future Combat Systems is set to run through 2015.
Missile defense programs are due for cuts, Boeing said. The company has done work on missile defense programs locally, but it’s unclear what might be affected here.
To make up for the cuts, Boeing said it has been trying to get contracts with cyber security, surveillance and reconnaissance.
