Boeing eyes Middle East push for defence business

The Middle East will account for half of Boeing's international defence business outside the US by 2013, according to a top company executive. According to Dennis Muilenburg, President and Chief Executive of Boeing Defence, Space and Security (BDS), international business accounted for 18 per cent of Boeing's defence revenue of $31.9 billion (Dh117 billion) in 2010, which is expected to grow to 25-30 per cent by 2013. "Roughly a third of international business is in the Middle East at present," he said. "By 2013, we see a half of our international revenue coming from that region." Muilenburg's comment came during a discussion about the company's future prospects for the Middle East ahead of the Dubai Air Show, when he said that roughly half of the Middle East business is in the UAE. "We are investing in the UAE from a long-term partnership perspective," he said. He added that the numbers support the fact that Boeing is focusing on rapidly growing its defence business in the Middle East as well as in other parts of the world. "And we are doing a great job of that considering global revenues accounted for a mere 5-6 per cent of BDS' total revenues till about a couple of years ago," Muilenburg said. Having reaped overall revenues worth $64 billion in 2010 for defence and the commercial airplanes divisions combined, Boeing's revenues are split in half for both businesses, according to Muilenburg. Transport aircraft Boeing delivered to the UAE Armed Forces the fourth C-17, a heavy transport aircraft, last week. The plane is one of six ordered by the UAE. "We are looking to deliver the remaining two C-17s to the UAE by mid-next year," Bob Ciesla, Programme Manager for the C-17 Globemaster III, told Gulf News. Asked if Boeing is expecting to win additional orders for the C-17 aircraft at the Dubai Air show in November, Muilenburg said he would not tie down orders to the air show.