Brexit Storm Clouds Are ‘No Show’ At Farnborough

FARNBOROUGH Airshow --- Brexit was supposed to cast storm clouds over this week's Farnborough Airshow. Instead, it's been two days of torrential rain that has cast the real shadow over proceedings.

The biennial event is where the world's aerospace and defence (A&D) companies come to talk - and do - business.

And, in an industry where cross-border co-operation is vital, much of that talk was forecast to focus on the dire consequences for British A&D in a post-referendum world.

Yet, this being Britain, it's the weather that seems to be the main topic on everyone's lips. Evidence of serious concern about Brexit at this international gathering of executives and military top brass was thin on the ground (publicly, at least).

Take comments from the Pentagon's chief buyer of weapons, US Defense Under Secretary Frank Kendall. "I don't see any reason why it should fundamentally affect our relationship with the UK or our business deals with the UK," he said.

British quality

UK and US defence interests are inextricably linked. BAE Systems, the UK's largest arms manufacturer, has a big presence in the US and is a key contractor on the world's most expensive defence programme, the US-led F-35 Joint Strike Fighter project.

BAE is also lead contractor on the Eurofighter Typhoon programme, a pan-European project involving defence giants across the continent.

Does Brexit put these in doubt? "I personally don't think it does," Ian King, BAE System's chief executive, told the BBC. "We don't trade with the EU as a defence entity, it's with individual nations."

He says that the quality of UK technology and capabilities will always be in demand internationally, especially given that defence and security have risen rapidly up the political agenda.

BAE had backed continued EU membership. "It was right for the UK to stay part of a coherent trading bloc," he said.

And he still wants to see a trade deal done that involves the free movement of capital and people. But now that the British people have spoken, the strategy is to see what can be done "to maintain that continuity in a different form".
Boeing investment

That's the view among British A&D companies generally. (end of excerpt)

Click here for the full story, on the BBC News website.

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