Defense Companies Look Overseas
June 14, 2009 by Mark Ellis
Filed under Business
Everybody has to make a living, and for U.S. defense companies, making a living may involve selling increasing quantities of goods to foreign countries. This comes in response to Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ slashing of a variety of defense programs in order to trim the federal budget.
Experts in the field expect U.S. defense spending to taper off in the years to come, forcing U.S. defense companies to appeal to foreign buyers in order to make up the difference. Defense companies have even begun to expand the definition of “global security” to include a variety of infrastructural goods, like clean water, transportation, and energy.
Many defense companies have reported an increasing international demand for things like helicopters, fighter jets, and transport airplanes. This increase in demand has led several defense companies, such as Boeing Co’s defense business, to rely on foreign business for larger and larger portions of their total revenue.
Image: Flickr
