Cuts in defense spending as part of the sequester could ripple to suppliers outside the U.S.

For one thing, 63,000 kids would get booted from Head Start.

As furloughs loom, worries abound in Warner Robins, Ga.

Three big employers dependent on defense spending, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and General Dynamic all expect cuts to their contracting services.

Defense contractors are already cutting back as the war in Afghanistan winds down.

If a deal isn't reached on the fiscal cliff, the Defense Department faces half-a-trillion dollars worth of cuts across the board. So why can't lawmakers come to an agreement?

The parent company of Airbus, EADS, is in merger talks with the continent's biggest defense contractor, BAE systems. That could put U.S. leaders Boeing and Lockheed Martin playing a little defense themselves.

The big defense contractors — including Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney — say they may have to send out mass layoff notices to their employees in a few months. That's because they're worried that hundreds of billions of dollars in expected cuts to the Pentagon's budget will have a big effect on them.

Federal spending on defense could soon be drawn back, and private companies that make military equipment will have to look elsewhere for customers.