Defence and aerospace markets alive and well

Speaking at an event promoting the forthcoming Farnborough Air Show, Howarth praised the UK defence industry as being 'agile against an enemy that is surprisingly versatile' and spoke of the need for a continued British nuclear deterrent and to carry a big stick in the world'. Godden, in turn, thanked the government's continued support for defence exports, noting that in 2008, these came to a little over £4billion, second only to the USA. Godded said: "It's not just because we sell stuff cheap." ADS has just produced its 2010 UK Aerospace Industry Survey, which showed that UK aerospace sales increased in real terms in 2009 to £22.2bn, driven mainly by a stronger performance in the defence sector – 10.7% , while the civil aerospace sector remained unchanged. Defence exports as a whole were up 15.1%. The report notes that defence aircraft sales increased by 63% to £4.7bn in 2009, which was mainly driven by an increased demand from the 'rest of the world' (not the UK, US or EU), which grew by 49% from 2008 to £3.7bn. The report also noted that the gross average weekly wage in the aerospace industry increased from £676.1 in 2008 to £698.4 in 2009, which is 43% higher than the gross median weekly wage in the UK.