Some members of Arizona's congressional delegation are hailing a decision to postpone the planned retirement of the A-10 attack jet.

Defense contracts awarded in Arizona fell by $1.7 billion between 2012 and 2013, buffeted by the federal budget sequestration, a drawdown of U.S. military commitments and a sluggish economic recovery.

Arizona state agencies have received enough military equipment from the Department of Defense’s program 1033 to outfit a small country, and have more armored vehicles and military helicopters than 20 of them.

Arizona State University plans to return 70 M-16s obtained a year and a half ago under a Department of Defense program that distributes surplus weapons to law enforcement agencies, a spokeswoman said Monday.

Arizona congressmen Thursday renewed calls for the Pentagon to drop its “absolutely ridiculous” plan to retire the A-10 fighter, saying the replacement F-35 is 10 times as costly and does not protect ground forces as well.

A delegation from the Arizona Technology Council came to Washington this week hoping to persuade Congress to stop automatic spending cuts that would hurt state defense contractors and could lead to layoffs.

Small businesses in Arizona employ 46 percent of the private-sector workforce. They are an important economic engine to the state, and to the nation. But the uncertainty in Washington makes it difficult for them to live up to the full potential that we all know small business can be. When I was voted CEO of the Arizona Small Business Association (ASBA), I made it a priority to engage our more than 11,000 member-companies to lead and educate them on a number of factors that are vitally important to their businesses, including the ever-changing policy and fiscal environment. But now I find myself at a loss for answers to questions about the future of the nation.

Streamlining the state’s permitting processes and waiving fees for licensed military medical staff receiving hand-on training at Arizona hospitals would lead to better care for soldiers around the world, a state lawmaker said Wednesday.

A recent guest opinion in the Arizona Capitol Times said: “The government shouldn’t pick winners and losers when it comes to military contractors; the marketplace should.” I could not agree more. However, I must disagree with the author’s statement about Congress being a champion for competition in the case of the Joint Strike Fighter (F-35). In fact, it has been just the opposite.