Spa-war or Spay-war: Lab demystified

Qualcomm, Sempra and Petco are corporate household names in San Diego.

But SPAWAR? The group that employs 4,900 workers in San Diego at an average annual salary of $105,000 — what does it do?

How do you even pronounce its name: Spa-war or Spay-war?

An economic impact report to be released today said the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, headquartered in Old Town and led by a Navy admiral, will inject $1.77 billion into the regional economy this year.

Considering the economic ripple effect, SPAWAR spending will snowball to $2.5 billion in regional economic output and touch 18,800 jobs, according to the report, which was compiled by Point Loma Nazarene University’s Fermanian Business & Economic Institute.

The analysis, commissioned by the San Diego Military Advisory Council, tries to demystify what is part military command, part civilian technology laboratory in an era when defense boosters fear the potential of program cuts or even closures. It came amid the backdrop of ongoing downsizing of the federal defense budget.

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