AEROSPACE & DEFENSE

Textron to Buy Cessna: Textron Inc. will buy Cessna Aircraft Co. from General Dynamics Corp. for $600 million in cash, Textron and General Dynamics announced. About 5,400 employees at Cessna, a designer and manufacturer of business jets and utility turboprop aircraft, will join Textron. The sale is expected to be completed by March 31. The companies said both boards have approved the deal. Wichita, Kan.-based Cessna had sales of $820 million in 1991. St. Louis-based General Dynamics said last October that it wanted to divest Cessna to sharpen its focus on core defense businesses.