THE UK Defence Export Services Organisation (DESO) has set a target of increasing the UK's share of world defence markets by 3% over the next five years. Charles Masefield, head of the UK Ministry of Defence-run organisation, says that the UK won a 19% share in 1995, but is aiming to increase that to 22% by 2000, with total orders expected to be worth an estimated $37 billion a year by then.
Speaking at the Fleming Defence Conference, organised by investment bank Robert Fleming in London on 4 June, Masefield said that the 1995 figure represents an 11% increase over the previous year and is set against a 10% drop in total defence orders worldwide. The UK increase was largely because of the first deliveries in the £4 billion ($2.6 billion) Al Yamamah II defence contract with Saudi Arabia.
Masefield says that the key to growth lies in "greater international co-operation and collaborative projects". He cites the McDonnell Douglas/British Aerospace AV-8B Plus Harrier as an example of the "transatlantic way forward", saying that UK defence exports to the USA are now worth $1 billion a year, equal to 50% of the USA's total imported defence purchases.
DESO estimates that the largest single market area over the next five to ten years is likely to be the Middle East, remaining at much the same level as it is now; while the fastest-growing area will be the Far East, where growth in defence spending can be expected to rise by 6-18%, depending on the country.
Masefield sees Eastern Europe as a potential growth area, although finance is a problem. He says that, once its after-sales support problems have been overcome, Russia will provide strong competition.
Source: Flight International
