Retirement Plans

3 Months Ended

Apr. 01, 2012

Retirement Plans [Abstract]

Retirement Plans

L. RETIREMENT PLANS

We provide defined-contribution benefits, as well as defined-benefit pension and other post-retirement benefits, to eligible employees.

Net periodic cost associated with our defined-benefit pension and other post-retirement benefit plans for the three-month periods ended April 3, 2011, and April 1, 2012, consisted of the following:

	Pension Benefits						Other Post-retirement Benefits
Three Months Ended	April 3, 2011			April 1, 2012			April 3, 2011			April 1, 2012
Service cost	$	64		$	71		$	4		$	3
Interest cost		129			131			15			14
Expected return on plan assets		(150	)		(147	)		(8	)		(7	)
Recognized net actuarial loss		40			66			1			2
Amortization of prior service (credit) cost		(11	)		(11	)		1			2
Net periodic cost	$	72		$	110		$	13		$	14

Our contractual arrangements with the U.S. government provide for the recovery of contributions to our pension and other post-retirement benefit plans covering employees working in our defense business groups. For non-funded plans, our government contracts allow us to recover claims paid. Following payment, these recoverable amounts are allocated to contracts and billed to the customer in accordance with the Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) and specific contractual terms. For some of these plans, the cumulative pension and post-retirement benefit cost exceeds the amount currently allocable to contracts. To the extent recovery of the cost is considered probable based on our backlog, we defer the excess in contracts in process on the Consolidated Balance Sheets until the cost is allocable to contracts. See Note E for discussion of our deferred contract costs. For other plans, the amount allocated to contracts and included in revenues has exceeded the plans' cumulative benefit cost. We have deferred recognition of these excess earnings to provide a better matching of revenues and expenses. These deferrals have been classified against the plan assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

In late 2011, changes were made to the CAS to harmonize the regulations with the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA). As a result, pension costs allocable to our contracts are expected to increase beginning in 2014 when the impact of the CAS regulations begins to take effect.