Turbo Sjogren, senior vice-president for government services at Boeing Global Services, said the supply chain was at the core of European concerns about how to face the demands of sovereignty and take on the challenges “in a manner different tomorrow than they’ve done in the past”.
“The aerospace supply chain is global. Nobody can do it themselves. Maybe the Chinese can try, but certainly the rest of us, we’re going to have to work together,” he told a press briefing in the Boeing chalet at one of the world’s largest and oldest air shows.
“Irrespective of who’s going to take the lead, irrespective of sovereignty, there will be programmes developed in the United States, where there will be significant European content.
“There will be programmes that will be developed in Europe where there will be significant US content. And that’s the nature of the supply chain. To do otherwise takes too long and it’s unaffordable.”
Sjogren pointed out that the US has had legislation in place since 1973 requiring that the aerospace industry in particular, “but defence as a whole, cannot be reliant on countries like China” for materials that are deemed critical.
