U.S. aerospace and defense companies wait for government guidance on vaccine requirement

U.S. Department of Defense service members provide security while escorting evacuees at Hamid Karzai International Airport.

Chairmans of the largest United States aerospace and defense companies are united in their effort to comply with the Biden administration's Coronavirus vaccine mandate for U.S. workers and await further government guidance, their industry group said in a statement seen on Thursday by Reuters.

Last week major defense contractor Tomahawk missiles maker Raytheon Technologies Corp required its 125,000 employees be vaccinated after President Joe Biden announced policies requiring employers with more than 100 workers to have them inoculated or tested weekly.

The Aerospace Industries Association’s board, headed by Northrop Grumman's Chief Kathy Warden, includes the CEOs of Lockheed Martin Co, Leidos Holdings Inc, General Dynamics Corp and Raytheon Technologies.

America's aerospace and defense industry stands together when we prepare to implement the new federal vaccine requirement, while working with our government partners as they develop detailed guidance, Eric Fanning, the association's president, said in the statement seen by Reuters.

Throughout the pandemic, AIA members have introduced extensive benefits and expanded measures designed to prevent the spread of COVID -19 as our essential work continued, Fanning said.

The U.S. Defense Department has spent more than $13 billion to shore up funding among defense contractors experiencing a falloff in revenue as a result of the pandemic, a Pentagon spokeswoman said.