Boeing

The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] is expanding its presence in the UK with the establishment of a new facility in Bristol, England, to support its growing defense business activities. The new facility, part of the company's wholly owned subsidiary, Boeing Defence UK, Ltd., will support Boeing's efforts on the Future Rapid Effect System (FRES) program.

Boeing is actively engaged in discussions with the UK Ministry of Defence on the FRES program, which is intended to develop a new family of medium-weight, network-capable armored vehicles for the British army. The company is supporting a number of FRES activities already under way and is committed to providing further in-country support as the Defence Procurement Agency refines its acquisition plan for this important program.

"The establishment of this new office is another sign of Boeing's commitment to supporting the needs of our UK customer," said Paul Hoff, vice president and FRES program manager, Boeing Combat Systems. "Boeing's systems integration capabilities and proven expertise in the areas of design development, test and evaluation, and networked modeling and simulation offer lower risk and greater capability for defense transformation requirements such as FRES."

Boeing's relationship with the UK encompasses more than four decades of technical achievements and long-term partnerships producing mutual success on a variety of defense projects. Overall, the company employs more than 600 people throughout the UK at more than 20 locations. Boeing supports up to 30,000 additional UK jobs through its average annual purchases of $2 billion worth of advanced systems, services and components from its network of more than 200 partners and suppliers.