Source: BAE won't risk US ties

BAE Systems doesn't want to jeopardize its special relationship with the Pentagon and will walk away from the proposed merger with EADS to protect it. That's according to a report in Financial Times of London, quoting an unnamed source. The relationship is a Special Security Arrangement and that has allowed UK's BAE to work on many sensitive U.S. projects, including the F-35. It's allowed BAE to build a 40,000-employee network in 40 states and make $14 billion a year in the U.S., according to FT. France and Germany's EADS has a more strict special security arrangement. It has 3,000 employees and makes $1.4 billion a year in the U.S. (Source: Financial Times, 09/23/12) Gulf Coast note: BAE and EADS both have operations in the Gulf Coast I-10 region. EADS also plans to build an A320 assembly line in Mobile, Ala.