Defence spending in the region has almost doubled from five years ago. And by 2013, the Asia-Pacific market is expected to contribute up to 20 per cent of Boeing’s defence revenue, he added.
The defence arm of the American aviation giant raked in about US$32 billion ($43.6 billion) last year — 49 per cent of its total revenue.
Mr Albaugh was speaking to reporters at the Shangri-La Dialogue, organised by the International Institute of Strategic Studies.
31 May 2008: Today
THE Asia-Pacific defence market is the one to watch over the next 10 years, said a senior official from the Boeing Company on Friday.
The world’s second-largest defence contractor revealed that outside of the United States, countries in the Asia-Pacific were splashing more cash on weapons than those from Europe or the Middle East. The region makes up almost half of its market outside the US currently, Mr Jim Albaugh, president and chief executive of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, said.
Defence spending in the region has almost doubled from five years ago. And by 2013, the Asia-Pacific market is expected to contribute up to 20 per cent of Boeing’s defence revenue, he added.
The defence arm of the American aviation giant raked in about US$32 billion ($43.6 billion) last year — 49 per cent of its total revenue.
Mr Albaugh was speaking to reporters at the Shangri-La Dialogue, organised by the International Institute of Strategic Studies.
Australia, Japan, India, Korea and Singapore are some of Boeing’s biggest clients in the region.
Just last month, the Indian navy bought eight advanced maritime surveillance aircraft from Boeing. The US$2.2-billion deal for the P-8I Poseidon, a long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft, was the biggest deal of any kind between the two countries.
Boeing’s Chinook heavy-lift helicopters, Apache war choppers and Harpoon anti-ship missile are used by many regional armies, too.
Meanwhile, Mr Albaugh also reaffirmed that the first of the 24 F-15SG fighter jets that Singapore ordered in 2005, are expected to arrive early next year, with production “coming along very well”.
The F-15SG is the latest variant of the F-15 Eagle. The all-weather, multi-role fighter has a perfect combat record of 101 victories and zero defeats worldwide since it was introduced into service about 30 years ago.
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