Scotland's aerospace, defence and marine industry is a successful, high technology sector operating in a global market and includes businesses in the security and resilience and the space markets. Some of the world’s leading companies work in Scotland in this field.
Key facts
- The aerospace, defence and marine industry employs 40,000 staff in Scotland, with over 840 companies involved in the sector. Together they generate combined annual sales in excess of £5 billion.
- Scotland has representation from global players, such as GE Aviation, Spirit AeroSystems, Goodrich, Rolls-Royce, BAE Systems, Thales, SELEX Galileo, Babcock Marine and Raytheon.
- The quality, availability and competitive cost base of Scotland's skilled and educated labour force is commonly cited as the biggest factor behind the success of aerospace companies operating in Scotland.
- Almost a third of the UK’s shipbuilding takes place in Scotland. The shipbuilding sector is focused on highly complex warship design and manufacture – including the world’s most advanced air defence destroyers, the Royal Navy’s Type 45, and the new Queen Elizabeth Class carriers, which will be the UK’s largest ever warships. Scotland also has an enviable reputation as centre of excellence for both for marine design and for complex military ship repair.
- The next spacecraft scheduled to be launched by the UK Space Agency will be a new CubeSat designed and manufactured in Scotland.
The aerospace industry in Scotland.
The defence industry in Scotland.
The marine industry in Scotland.
The security and resilience industry in Scotland.
Aerospace, defence and marine research and development in Scotland.