Contact: Ernie Blazar 202.224.7627 Shana Stribling 202.224.0309
Thursday, April 3, 2003

WASHINGTON - Senator Kit Bond today said he was very pleased by Boeing's decision to relocate its Future Combat Systems effort to St. Louis, a move that will bring several hundred jobs to the region.

"This is a huge vote of confidence in St. Louis by Boeing," said Bond, a senior member of the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee "I have worked with Boeing for many years to chart a long-term plan for the company's continued presence in St. Louis and this decision is the latest good news to flow from that effort."

Boeing, along with Science Applications International, is the lead systems integrator for the Future Combat Systems program. The goal of this program is to, in essence, redesign the U.S. Army's entire ground combat force, including tanks and other fighting vehicles.

"Today on the news coming from Iraq, we are seeing the Army of today on the battlefield," said Bond. "With this announcement, the Army of the future will be designed by the team that will be relocated and headquartered in St. Louis."

Bond has fought for years on behalf of the Boeing workers in St. Louis by seeking additional work at the local facilities. Most notably, Bond traveled to the Republic of Korea a number of times and meet with the Korean President and his military officials to sell that country a very capable version of the U.S. Air Force's F-15 Eagle, built in St. Louis. Last year, our Korean allies committed to purchase 40 of those planes, guaranteeing several more years of work at the facility.

In addition, Bond has been a strong Senate supporter of the U.S. Navy's newest strike fighter, the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, now being built in St. Louis and currently deployed on its maiden combat cruise aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.