From technology and exports, to apprenticeships and investment, the UK’s aerospace, defence, security and space sectors are vital to the UK’s growth.
Aerospace
UK aerospace is a world-leading sector, generating well-paid jobs, high-tech exports and sustainable growth across the country. The UK has a long-standing aerospace heritage – from inventing the turbojet, to helping to design, develop and manufacture the world’s first supersonic commercial airliner, to today manufacturing wings and engines of the world’s largest passenger aeroplane. With £35bn in revenue and around 123,000 direct employees, the UK continues to be at the very heart of cutting-edge aerospace design and innovation.
In 2017, the UK built on its impressive heritage, with strengths in a wide range of areas such as the design and manufacture of large aircraft wings; aircraft engines; helicopters and advanced systems including landing gear, fuel, mechanical, avionics and electrical power. In addition, UK aerospace businesses are growing in new areas of technology, such as enhanced connectivity for passengers and additive layer manufacturing.
The UK aerospace industry and ADS are well positioned to benefit from the continued rapid growth in the global aerospace market, with an expected 35,000 new aircraft set to be required over the next 20 years, worth around $5.3 trillion.
Defence
The UK is the second largest defence exporter in the world, which helps deliver the equipment and services our armed forces and security services need to safeguard national security and contributes to the UK’s economic prosperity.
Security and Resilience
The UK’s security and resilience sector provides solutions to the challenges we all face today, from cyber security to products and services which address the threats of terrorism and all other aspects of national security. ADS is the only national trade association that represents the breadth of the security sector.
Through its capabilities, the sector has helped the UK government and international partners prevent, manage and respond to a number of high profile risks. It has provided surveillance and search and rescue assets to address the migration crisis in the Mediterranean, helped contain and eradicate the Ebola crisis in West Africa, and protected the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games from terrorism, domestic extremism and cyber attacks.
Space
The global economy increasingly depends upon space infrastructure and hardware, such as satellites and advanced infrastructure. The UK is the leading exporter of satellite-based tools to the developing world. The UK space sector has grown in size by 71% since 2012 and aims to have a 10% global share of the space market by 2030.
