Leanne Caret, president and CEO of Boeing’s (NYSE: BA) defense, space and security business and a 2020 Wash100 Award winner, told Defense News in an interview published Monday that she believes the company will be able to deliver on defense programs such as MQ-25 and T-X given its investments in digital engineering and advanced manufacturing processes.
“I actually remain very confident in the investments we made on both the MQ-25 and the T-7. … We had already redesigned, reimagined, how are we going to use advanced modeling and simulation and digital twins,” Caret told the publication. “And so those investments, in terms of how we design and build, I think have paid off not only for those programs you mentioned, but for the F-15EX for the air power teaming system and for everything that follows.”
She noted that Boeing’s move to evolve itself when it comes to how it performs the work was the “true differentiator” that enabled the company to win those contracts.
“It started with how we design and how we build, to your point, and how we sustain over the long term. We had to go prove out those advanced technologies, and we spend our investment dollars wisely to be ready to go pursue this,” Caret said.
Caret offered updates on the KC-46 tanker program, F-15EX fighter aircraft and the MQ-25 aerial refueling drone. She also responded to questions about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the company’s defense production lines and second-tier suppliers and how Boeing addresses pandemic-related challenges.
