Private company

Boeing Defense, Space & Security

Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS) is a division of the Boeing Company based in St. Louis County, Missouri.1

Last updated Oct 18, 2026.

Overview

Oct 6, 2002Founded1

Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS) is a division of the Boeing Company based in St. Louis County, Missouri. The division builds military airplanes, rotorcraft, and missiles, as well as space systems for both commercial and military customers, including satellites, spacecraft, and rockets.2

The story

Boeing Defense, Space & Security was headquartered in Greater St. Louis north of St. Louis Lambert International Airport in the northern St. Louis suburb of Berkeley, Missouri, until January 2017, when top executives and support staff were relocated to Arlington, Virginia. There are also significant operations in nearby Missouri communities, such as Hazelwood and St. Charles. It remains one of the largest employers in Greater St. Louis with 18,000 local employees as of 2026.

Other major locations of BDS are in California and Washington state. Boeing chose to locate the defense systems offices in the St. Louis area because of the role of the space and aircraft programs of the former McDonnell Douglas location, and bipartisan support from area politicians.

In 2016, Boeing moved the division headquarters from St. Louis to Arlington, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C. area and located close to the Pentagon.

On October 26, 2020, Boeing was sanctioned by the Chinese government due to arms sales to Taiwan.

In October 2024, The Wall Street Journal reported that Boeing was exploring a sale of some of its space division programs including the Starliner spacecraft and operations that support the International Space Station.

In February 2026 Boeing Defense, Space & Security headquarters returned to St. Louis

From Wikipedia’s article on Boeing Defense, Space & Security, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Products and brands

Products

Bomber aircraft

Boeing YB-9

Boeing XB-15 (1 prototype)

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress

Boeing XB-38 Flying Fortress

Read the full text

Boeing YB-40 Flying Fortress

Boeing C-108 Flying Fortress

List of Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress variants

Boeing Y1B-20

Boeing B-29 Superfortress

Boeing KB-29 Superfortress

Boeing XB-39 Superfortress

B-29 Superfortress variants

Boeing B-47 Stratojet

Boeing B-50 Superfortress

Boeing B-52 Stratofortress

Boeing B-54

Boeing XB-55

Boeing XB-56

Boeing XB-59

Boeing TB – torpedo bomber

Rockwell B-1 Lancer — from acquisition of North American Aviation division of Rockwell International

Rotorcraft

Boeing AH-6

Boeing AH-64 Apache

Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight (Vertol Aircraft Corp.)

Boeing Vertol CH-47 Chinook (Vertol Aircraft Corp.)

Boeing Chinook (UK variants)

Boeing Vertol YUH-61

Boeing Vertol XCH-62

MH-139 Grey Wolf (with Leonardo S.p.A.)

V-22 Osprey (with Bell Helicopter)

Quad TiltRotor (with Bell Helicopter)

RAH-66 Comanche (with Sikorsky), reconnaissance and light attack helicopter, canceled

SkyHook JHL-40

Fighter and attack aircraft

Boeing Model 15

Boeing F2B

Boeing F3B

Boeing XF6B

Boeing XF8B

Boeing F-15E Strike Eagle

Boeing F-15SE Silent Eagle

Boeing F-15EX Eagle II

Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet

Boeing EA-18G Growler

Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor (partner with prime contractor Lockheed Martin)

Boeing GA-1

Boeing XP-4

Boeing XP-7

Boeing XP-8

Boeing XP-9

Boeing P-12

Boeing XP-15

Boeing P-26 Peashooter

Boeing P-29

Boeing X-32, Boeing's entry for the Joint Strike Fighter program

Boeing F-47

Boeing F/A-XX

Experimental aircraft

Boeing Bird of Prey

Boeing X-40

Boeing X-53 Active Aeroelastic Wing

Tankers and transport aircraft

Boeing YC-14

Boeing C-17 Globemaster III

Boeing C-22

Boeing VC-25

Boeing C-32

Boeing C-40 Clipper

Boeing KC-46 Pegasus

Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter

Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter

Boeing C-127

Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

Boeing C-135 Stratolifter

Boeing EC-135

Boeing NC-135

Boeing OC-135B Open Skies – (3 Treaty on Open Skies observation aircraft)

Boeing RC-135

Boeing WC-135 Constant Phoenix

Boeing C-137 Stratoliner

Boeing CC-137

Boeing KC-767

Boeing Pelican

Trainer aircraft

Boeing Model 2

Boeing XAT-15

Boeing NB

Boeing T-43 navigator trainer

Boeing Skyfox

Boeing–Saab T-7 Red Hawk

Electronic warfare, surveillance and other military variants

Boeing 737 AEW&C (E-7 Wedgetail)

Boeing Model 42

Boeing YAL-1 Airborne Laser

Boeing E-3 Sentry (an Airborne Early Warning and Control or AWACS surveillance aircraft)

Boeing E-4 (Advanced Airborne Command Post)

Boeing E-6 Mercury

Boeing E-767 (AWACS)

Boeing P-8 Poseidon (Anti-submarine warfare)

Boeing XPB

Boeing XP3B

Boeing XPBB Sea Ranger

Boeing RC-135

Utility aircraft

Boeing Model 1

Boeing L-15 Scout

Unmanned aerial vehicles

Boeing Insitu RQ-21 Blackjack

Boeing YQM-94

Boeing CQM-121 Pave Tiger – anti-radar drone

Boeing X-45//Phantom Ray – technology demonstrators

Boeing X-46

Boeing X-48

Boeing X-50 Dragonfly – experimental Gyrodyne UAV

Boeing X-51

Boeing A160 Hummingbird – development UAV helicopter

Boeing Condor

Boeing DARPA Vulture

Boeing HALE

Boeing Insitu ScanEagle

Boeing MQ-25 Stingray

Boeing Phantom Eye – a high altitude, long range UAV

Boeing Persistent Munition Technology Demonstrator

Boeing SolarEagle

GQM-163 Coyote

MA-31

Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Bat – previously known as Airpower Teaming System

Missiles

Arrow 3

CIM-10 Bomarc

LGM-30 Minuteman

AGM-69 SRAM

AGM-86 ALCM cruise missile

MGM-118 Peacekeeper

Ground-Based Midcourse Defense

Ground-Based Interceptor

UUM-125 Sea Lance

AGM-131 SRAM II

Boeing Ground-to-Air Pilotless Aircraft

Harpoon (missile)

Standoff Land Attack Missile

AGM-84H/K SLAM-ER

Space launch and spacecraft

Boeing Launch Services Inc. (BLS) is Boeing's commercial launch service provider. On behalf of its commercial customers, BLS administers launch service contracts for Delta II and Delta IV launches conducted by United Launch Alliance. In November 2010, Boeing Defense, Space & Security was selected by NASA for consideration for potential contract awards for heavy lift launch vehicle system concepts, and propulsion technologies.

S-IC first stage

Lunar Roving Vehicle

X-38 Crew Return Vehicle

Inertial Upper Stage (Titan IV and Space Shuttle)

International Space Station

Space Shuttle orbiter (Rockwell)

Delta (rocket family) (aka Thor-Delta)

Delta II rocket

Delta III rocket

Delta IV rocket

Sea Launch (with Energia, Aker Kværner, and Yuzhnoe)

Starliner crewed space capsule

Space Launch System

core stage

Exploration Upper Stage

Spaceplanes

Boeing X-20 Dyna-Soar (canceled)

Boeing X-37

Boeing X-40

Satellites

333 bus (Hughes Satellite Systems)

376 bus (inherited from Hughes Satellite Systems)

601 bus (inherited from Hughes Satellite Systems)

702 bus

ARGOS

Autonomous Space Transport Robotic Operations (ASTRO)

GPS Block I and II (Rockwell)

Integrated Solar Upper Stage

Kinetic Energy Anti-Satellite Weapon System

XSS Micro-satellite

Space probes

Lunar Orbiter program

Surveyor program

Mariner 10

Mars Science Laboratory

Other

AN/TWQ-1 Avenger – lightweight air defense vehicle

Pegasus-class hydrofoil – patrol craft (6 built by Boeing Marine)

GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb – 250 lb glide bomb

Compact Laser weapon system

Tactical Laser weapon system

Facilities

On July 21, 2006, Boeing announced that it would consolidate its Southern California locations. The Boeing facility in Anaheim will be moving to Huntington Beach, California.

Huntsville, Alabama (Spacelab, International Space Station, Delta, Ground-based Midcourse Defense)

Mesa, Arizona (AH-64, AH-6i)

Anaheim, California

El Segundo, California (satellite complex: 601, 702)

Long Beach, California (C-17 until 2015)

Palmdale, California (Space Shuttle)

Pleasanton, California

Seal Beach, California Saturn V rocket and Apollo Capsule (original contractor North American later Rockwell International)

Huntington Beach, California (Saturn V, X-51A, Apollo, Skylab, Space Shuttle, Delta, and ISS)

Kennedy Space Center, Florida (as part of United Space Alliance and United Launch Alliance)

Macon, Georgia (C-17, a-10, ch-47) Closing down December 2016

New Orleans, Louisiana (S-IC stage – Boeing was the prime contractor where the Michoud Assembly Facility was used for the final assembly)

St. Louis, Missouri (F-15, F/A-18, F-47)

St. Charles, Missouri (weapons)

Tulsa, Oklahoma (F-15/F-15E)

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (H-47, V-22) H-46 production ended.

El Paso, Texas (B-1B, PAC-3, power and electronics components for ISS, F-22, and F-15, assembly and test for Minuteman III missile guidance system)

Houston, Texas

San Antonio, Texas (military aircraft maintenance)

Puget Sound region, Washington

Washington, D.C. area

From Wikipedia’s article on Boeing Defense, Space & Security, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Subsidiaries and ownership

Parent company

Owners

Subsidiaries

Also owns

From Wikidata.1

Revenue over time

As stated on Wikidata, in the currency reported.

Revenue

Boeing Defense, Space & Security revenue by year1$23.2B in 2018+15% since 2016
0$10.0B$20.0B$30.0B2016: $20.2B$20.2B20162017: $20.6B$20.6B2017+2%2018: $23.2B$23.2B2018+13%
  • 2018$23.2B1
  • 2017$20.6B1
  • 2016$20.2B1

Timeline

  1. Oct 6, 2002Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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