Raytheon’s New Saudi JV Part of Intl Defense Expansion; Rick Yuse Comments

Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Aircraft/DoD Image

Uncertainty about future U.S. defense budgets is incentivizing domestic defense contractors to expand their international operations, Bloomberg reports.

Rick Yuse, Raytheon Co.‘s space and airborne systems division president, recently told AOL Defense that the unit is looking to grow business throughout Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.

Raytheon recently formed a new joint venture with a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia-based Atheeb Trading Co. Ltd, a company Raytheon has worked with for more than 20 years, according to a post on the U.S.-Saudi Aribian Business Council’s webpage.

The JV will support Raytheon’s regional command, control, communications, computer and intelligence business and further expands the company’s reach in the Middle-East.

Boeing Co. is also turning to foreign allies to generate more revenue, Bloomberg News reports.

“Opportunities around the globe are there,” Dennis Muilenburg, president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security, told Bloomberg. “We see more of our U.S. competitors being present and also more emerging entrants” as military spending increases in the Middle East, Asia and Latin America.

He added the firm is looking to generate around 25 percent of its defense revenue from foreign markets and may reach as much as 30 percent in 2012.

In addition, foreign sales and follow-on orders from the Pentagon are expected to continue Boeing’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet production through 2020, according to Bloomberg.

The company is also working to integrate new weapons with Embraer’s A-29 Super Tucano.

Congress agreed with the White House earlier this year to cut defense spending by around $480 billion through the next 10 years.

Lockheed Martin Corp.‘s incoming president Marliyn Hewson announced this week that the Bethesda, Md.-based firm is actively looking to increase export sales by around 20 percent over the next several years.

Revenue generated from Lockheed’s F-35 and F-15 production, scheduled for 2015, is expected to help the firm reach the mark.

United Technologies Corp. subsidiary, Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. also publicly stated it would be exploring foreign markets for expansion.

London-based BAE Systems, owner of the Eurofighter Typhoon, European Aeronautic, Toulouse, France-based Defence & Space Co., and Rome-based Finmeccanica SpA are working to “find a way to put this airplane on the market at a lower price and win projects,” Finmeccanica CEO Giuseppe Orsi recently told Bloomberg at a briefing in London.