Memorandum from The Boeing Company
In response to the House of Commons Defence
Select Committee's inquiry into the MoD's Defence Equipment programme,
The Boeing Company is pleased to submit the following evidence.
In this document, Boeing provides information about, The Boeing
Company; Boeing Integrated Defense Systems; Boeing's C-17 Globemaster
III programme and the status of the programme as of November 2009.
GENERAL INFORMATION
1. Boeing is the world's leading aerospace
company and the largest combined manufacturer of commercial jetliners
and military aircraft, with capabilities in rotorcraft, electronic
and defence systems, missiles, satellites, launch vehicles and
advanced information and communication systems. The company's
reach extends to customers in 90 countries around the world and
Boeing remains the number one US exporter in terms of sales. Headquartered
in Chicago Illinois, USA, Boeing employs more than 158,000 people
in more than 70 countries.
2. Boeing has a long standing relationship
with the UK dating back over 70 years and today the UK remains
a critically important market for the company as a supplier base
and a source for technology partners. Boeing's annual spend in
the aerospace industry supports thousands of jobs around the UK,
in the process generating intellectual property and facilitating
exports. There are currently more than 600 Boeing UK employees
in locations from Almondbank to Gosport.
BOEING INTEGRATED
DEFENSE SYSTEMS
3. Boeing Integrated Defense Systems (IDS)
combines weapons and aircraft capabilities, intelligence and surveillance
systems, communications architectures and extensive large-scale
integration expertise across three business profit and loss centres.
A $32 billion business with 70,000 employees worldwide, Boeing
Integrated Defense Systems' strategy is to understand the enduring
needs of customers and provide capability-based solutions to meet
their rapidly evolving requirements. The strategy includes understanding
the art of using current and emerging technologies to improve
the capabilities of existing products and delivering new solutions.
4. The UK is a critically important market
for The Boeing Company, as a supplier base and a source for technology
partners. In line with the Ministry of Defence's Defence Industrial
Strategy, that calls for the retention of key capabilities within
the UK, Boeing IDS established a new on-shore business, Boeing
Defence UK Ltd. The business now possesses a broad range of capabilities
that have grown organically to include systems engineering, integrated
logistics support, modelling simulation analysis and experimentation,
amongst numerous others.
BOEING C-17 GLOBEMASTER
III
5. A nation's strategic airlift capability
is an essential lynchpin in its national security strategy. Airlift
delivers the global reach that allows the United Kingdom to deploy
and sustain forces globally to meet their security interests whenever
and wherever necessary. The Boeing C-17 Globemaster III is designed
to fulfill military and humanitarian airlift needs well into the
21st century. A high-wing, four-engine, T-tailed aircraft with
a rear-loading ramp, the C-17 can carry large combat equipment
and troops or humanitarian aid across international distances
directly to small airfields anywhere in the world. With a payload
of 160,000 pounds, the C-17 can take off from a 6,700-foot airfield,
fly 2,400 nautical miles, and land on a small, austere airfield
in 3,000 feet or less. The C-17 is equipped with an externally
blown flap system that allows a steep, low-speed final approach
and low-landing speeds for routine short-field landings.
C-17 STATUS (NOVEMBER
2009)
6. The Boeing C-17 Globemaster III is the
Royal Air Force's most flexible, reliable and capable airlift
aircraft that flies well above its original planned usage rate.
The C-17 continues to be a vital component of the air bridge to
Afghanistan and, as the UK's armed forces operate around the globe,
the aircraft encapsulates the RAF's enduring requirement for a
workhorse that is equally at home in both combat and humanitarian
relief missions. In current operations, the C-17 has a proven
capability of delivering more cargo, troops and supplies than
any other UK aircraft. A strategic asset by definition, the C-17
possesses valuable characteristics that enable it to operate in
a tactical environment where smaller, less capable aircraft would
typically be found. To date, the C-17 programme has delivered
over £650m of value to the UK's aerospace industry through
an industrial participation agreement. The UK also benefits industrially
with several companies including Cobham Plc and CAV Aerospace,
being suppliers to Boeing's C-17 programme.
7. The C-17 is backed by Globemaster Sustainment
Partnership (GSP), which is a performance based logistics agreement
focused on readiness. Boeing is responsible for all C-17 sustainment
activities, including material management and depot maintenance
support with the RAF's aircraft being supported by a dedicated
team at Brize Norton.
8. Boeing has recently delivered its 190th
C-17 to the US Air Force and in total is scheduled to deliver
a total of 213 C-17s to the US Air Force. In addition, Boeing
has delivered four aircraft to Australia, three to NATO, four
aircraft to Canada, two aircraft to Qatar and the company will
deliver a total of four aircraft to the United Arab Emirates.
The RAF originally leased four aircraft that were converted into
an outright purchase in 2006 and following that time they have
also received two further aircraft.
CONCLUSION
9. The C-17 delivers outstanding operational
capability to the armed forces. The UK remains an extremely important
market for the Boeing Company, as a supplier base and a source
for technology partners. Boeing currently works with the Ministry
of Defence across a range of programmes and the company looks
forward to building on this relationship in the future under a
variety of platform, sustainment and network enabled capability
programmes. The Boeing Company has a strong desire to continue
to provide a reliable and capable airlift aircraft to the Royal
Air Force.
16 November 2009
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