Defence exposure at the show is expected to increase this year, as stretched budgets undergo a gradual upturn and spending is on the rise, according to consultancy firm Accenture.
Although the civil element of the market is expected to continue to reign over Paris, comparatively the defence presence is on the rise due to increased funding for acquisitions, research and development and maintenance repair and overhaul, John Schmidt, Accenture’s managing director for aerospace and defence, says.
Schmidt does however say that the increase in defence spending will grow by only just under 1%, but it is noticeably higher than previous years.
NATO members pledged at its summit in Wales in September to allocate 2% of their GDP to defence, which could be a contributor to this upward trend.
However, Michael Fallon, the UK’s defence minister, says that while London is currently spending 2% on defence, seven of the 28 NATO members do not spend 1% on defence and 20 of the 28 do not spend 1.5%.
Furthermore, the increase in the use of digital and wearable technology is also a growth area for aerospace, Schmidt notes, which the company is demonstrating at the show.
He says that this technology will benefit the MRO market that could use wearable glasses to enable communication with engineers that are in different locations, and could be used for operations of unmanned air vehicles.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
