Come up with the facts so the global aerospace industry can make reasoned judgments rather than emotional assessments about the US position on partnerships.
That was the underlying message at a Lockheed Martin media briefing at the show.
Robert Trice, senior vice-president business development, used what he described as a 'data rich' presentation to highlight the realities of the aerospace industry global village, most evident from the prolific nature of cross-border relationships.
He set the scene by considering the examples of consumer industry companies, such as Sony, Coca-Cola, Toyota and McDonalds, among others, as a clear indication of US collaboration with international partners, and an ability to take account of local conditions.
Ability
The ability to eat a McDonalds with a local flavour, such as Aloo Tikka in India, and a kosher chicken meal in Israel further demonstrated this fact, he said.
Moving on to the aerospace industry scenario, Trice said: "If someone said it was un-American to limit cross-border aerospace and defence collaborations then we didn't get the memo."
He charted current cross-border deals involving a variety of US aerospace sector companies, such as Boeing, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and, of course, Lockheed Martin, most noticeably with eight partner nations on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) programme.
But if there were expectations of a truly liberal approach to further industry collaboration, Trice cautioned that he respected the US government and public concerns about security and investments of tax dollars, and indicated the established regulatory nature of the industry would be a fact of life.
He also pointed out the niche nature of the US aerospace and defence sector, which recorded sales of $159 billion in 2004 by the big five companies, but this was balanced by Wal-Mart's sales statistics, which were almost double.
Highlighted
He further highlighted the niche nature of the business with US employment statistics which show there are more than double the number of lawyers than aerospace and defence sector workers, and he amplified this by pointing out there were four times as many people incarcerated in the country.
Trice responded with good humour to the inevitable question about whether there was any overlap in this area.
He underlined the economic impact of US defence exports with a total income impact in 2004 of $19.2 billion, $9.8 billion of this direct and the remainder in indirect economic benefits from employee disbursement in local communities.
Trice said the US aerospace and defence industry must respond to global forces in a responsible manner, a message which the company is clearly sending in statistical style to the decision makers on Capitol Hill.
That was the underlying message at a Lockheed Martin media briefing at the show.
Robert Trice, senior vice-president business development, used what he described as a 'data rich' presentation to highlight the realities of the aerospace industry global village, most evident from the prolific nature of cross-border relationships.
He set the scene by considering the examples of consumer industry companies, such as Sony, Coca-Cola, Toyota and McDonalds, among others, as a clear indication of US collaboration with international partners, and an ability to take account of local conditions.
Ability
The ability to eat a McDonalds with a local flavour, such as Aloo Tikka in India, and a kosher chicken meal in Israel further demonstrated this fact, he said.
Moving on to the aerospace industry scenario, Trice said: "If someone said it was un-American to limit cross-border aerospace and defence collaborations then we didn't get the memo."
He charted current cross-border deals involving a variety of US aerospace sector companies, such as Boeing, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and, of course, Lockheed Martin, most noticeably with eight partner nations on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) programme.
But if there were expectations of a truly liberal approach to further industry collaboration, Trice cautioned that he respected the US government and public concerns about security and investments of tax dollars, and indicated the established regulatory nature of the industry would be a fact of life.
He also pointed out the niche nature of the US aerospace and defence sector, which recorded sales of $159 billion in 2004 by the big five companies, but this was balanced by Wal-Mart's sales statistics, which were almost double.
Highlighted
He further highlighted the niche nature of the business with US employment statistics which show there are more than double the number of lawyers than aerospace and defence sector workers, and he amplified this by pointing out there were four times as many people incarcerated in the country.
Trice responded with good humour to the inevitable question about whether there was any overlap in this area.
He underlined the economic impact of US defence exports with a total income impact in 2004 of $19.2 billion, $9.8 billion of this direct and the remainder in indirect economic benefits from employee disbursement in local communities.
Trice said the US aerospace and defence industry must respond to global forces in a responsible manner, a message which the company is clearly sending in statistical style to the decision makers on Capitol Hill.
Source: Flight Daily News
