BOEING DEFENSE, SPACE & SECURITY
5000 E. McDowell Road, Mesa. Employees: 4,800 in Arizona. Expenditures in Arizona: $1.1 billion. Products: Unmanned Little Bird H-6U helicopter, Unmanned Camcopter S-100, AH-64D and AH-64E Apache helicopters. helicopter programs in Mesa.
Boeing’s UAVs are just one example of the work being done in Arizona by the aerospace and defense industry.
Though much of the work is for military purposes, there is growing interest in civilian use of the technology.
In the case of the UAVs, commercial applications include monitoring wildfires, search and rescue, communication relays, border protection, agricultural uses and remote cargo delivery, Brooks said.
“Those are the dull, dirty and dangerous jobs that are difficult to perform with manned systems,” he said.
Development and testing of UAVs for civilian use is expect- ed to provide lift for the aerospace industry nationwide. An industry group estimates that the vehicles will create 70,000 jobs and boost the economy by $13.6 billion in the first three years of their development for civilian use.
Arizona could be in line for some of that revenue because it is among 24 states vying to host one of six UAV test sites that will be selected by year’s end by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Meanwhile, Boeing continues to pursue UAV develop- ment from its Mesa plant, which builds the Little Bird as well as another helicopter called Apache and electrical assemblies and composite materials for military and commercial aircraft. Boeing officials would not disclose how much work on the UAVs takes place at the 4,800-person Mesa plant, but the company reported $1.1 billion in annual expenditures to Arizona suppliers and vendors.
In September, during tests in New Zealand, Schiebel Aircraft demonstrated the S-100’s capabilities for inspecting high-volt-