The plant, which will be built in Toowoomba, Australia, will assemble military drones and not commercial jets, which is Boeing's primary business activity. However, it is an interesting step off from the United States for the company.
Boeing's defense, space and security division has been its most solid revenue stream during the last few years. The unit has reported $26 billion in annual revenue every year since 2018, while the firm's commercial aircraft revenue plunged $41 billion or 72%, in the face of the 737 Max crisis and the pandemic.
About 83% of those defense business came from the US Defense Department in 2020. Is the division notable of foreign clients as well?
Boeing's Australia operation team designed the drone, known as Loyal Wingman, to be built there. The factory is expected to create 3,500 new jobs by 2028. Currently the Australian Air Force is the only verified customer for the drone, but Boeing plans to export it to other military customers around the world. Sep 21, 2021 - The Boeing Loyal Wingman drone during first flight test in September in Australia. Boeing plans to build the drone at its first final assembly plant in Australia to be built in Australia, its first outside United States. The news comes on the heels of a separate announcement that Australia intends to build a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines with the use of technology shared by the United States and the British Empire. That move is seen as an effort by the United States to limit China's growing military ambitions in the region. here all but alone in making this claim. For example, they build more cars in non-US plants, at countries such as China and Mexico, than they do in the United States. There was a time when the US manufacturing giants produced virtually all of their products in America.and are all but alone today in making that claim. For example, more cars are built in non-US plants, in countries such as China and Mexico, than they do in the United States. Part of the reason that automakers and other manufacturers build their products in foreign markets, beyond lower labor costs, is to reduce delivery time and expense when selling on lower prices. That is not as significant an issue for Boeing, which can fly most of the products it makes to its customers. Boeing already had its largest non-US operation in Australia, with about 4,000 employees, some of them doing pre-assemblework work on parts that are shipped to US factories by the company's Australian branches. It also has a facility in China which was set up to finalise the interior and final painting on the 737 Max commercial jets it is selling there. Part of the reason behind locating the plant there was to placate the Chinese government, which must sign off all jet sales into the country. This building, opened in late 2018, completed the 737 Max only before two fatal crashes caused a global grounding of the plane. Although most countries are once again allowing the plane to carry passengers, the 737 Max remains grounded in China. Since the rising trade tensions between China and the United States, Boeing's American products have slowed to a trickle in China.