Boeing’s other businesses: Drones and overseas fighter jets
Boeing’s other businesses: Drones and overseas fighter jets
Boeing reports its latest business results today. It’s been a tough year so far for the company’s powers that be. They’ve been doing damage control after battery problems grounded Boeing’s overdue fleet of 787 Dreamliners, and there’s still a huge backlog on orders for its commercial airplanes.
But the company’s also been growing in other directions. These days Boeing is building drones that run on liquid hydrogen, and dipping its feet in the revenue stream of cybersecurity. It’s also trying to sell more military aircraft overseas.
Last month India bought 10 cargo planes from Boeing worth more than $4 billion.
“Similarly they recently scored one of the biggest fighter contracts in history, selling 84 F-15s to Saudi Arabia, and deliveries of that are just going to get going soon,” says Aviation industry analyst Richard Aboulafia.
Boeing’s Defense, Space and Security spokesman Todd Blecher says 25 percent of the company’s annual revenue comes from outside the U.S. now. The goal is 30 percent as U.S. military contracts trim down.
“I think all the companies in this space see what’s happening here in the U.S. and everybody is looking elsewhere for new business,” Blecher explains.
Cost-cutting is another big theme for Boeing this year, from layoffs to canceling newspaper subscriptions.
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