The Star-Gazette of Elmira reports that the Stratford, Conn.-based subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. announced Monday afternoon that cuts in the federal defence budget played a role in the decision to close the companys military completions centre in Big Flats, outside Elmira.

The plant will close at the end of the year. Nearly 400 of its workers were laid off last year. At its peak, the factory employed 1,300.

Sikorsky bought the plant from Schweizer Aircraft Corp. in 2004. Three years later, the company opened a new $15 million, 100,000-square-foot facility near the Elmira Corning Regional Airport.