Defence Equipment 2010 - Defence Committee Contents


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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