British Industry Welcomes Government Defence Export Figures

06:52 GMT, July 23, 2010 A|D|S, the UK’s AeroSpace, Defence and Security trade organisation on Thursday welcomed the news from the Government’s UK Trade and Investment Defence and Security Organisation (UKTI DSO) that the UK has retained its position as number two in the world in defence exports in 2009. The UK ranks number one in Europe and is behind only the US globally.

UKTI DSO revealed that the UK achieved over £7 billion of new defence exports orders in 2009, close to the long-term target for the UK of 20 per cent of the global export market.

Ian Godden, Chairman of A|D|S, said: “As the Government seeks to rebalance the economy towards industries that represent high-technology manufacturing and services with strong export potential the defence sector is delivering on these priorities. It also has further room for strong growth in exports as the country recovers from recession.

“The defence industry is proud to support our armed forces directly and to work closely with our partners overseas. It also employs over 300,000 people across the whole of the UK and contributes over £35 billion to the economy each year. As we are demonstrating this week at the Farnborough International Airshow our industry offers solutions to the country’s needs. We look forward to working in partnership with the Government to deliver further benefits in the future to meet the nation’s requirements in terms of jobs and increased wealth.”