Boeing Appoints New Defense Chief -- Update

By Doug Cameron

Boeing Co. said Wednesday that Leanne Caret would take over as head of its defense and space unit on Mar. 1 following the surprise retirement of Chris Chadwick after two years leading the $31 billion business.

Ms. Caret, 49 years old, currently heads the smaller global services and support business, having previously served as chief financial officer of the defense unit.

Mr. Chadwick, 55, has headed the St. Louis-based BDS segment since Dec. 2013, having formerly led its military-aircraft arm. He will remain with the company until later this spring said Boeing, which declined to comment on his planned departure.

Boeing hadn't previously telegraphed any plans to change senior management at the defense arm. The company announced this week that Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg would assume the chairman's role when Jim McNerney steps down in March.

Boeing's defense arm has remained solidly profitable and margins have increased, but last year lost out to Northrop Grumman Corp. after a hard-fought contest to build a new long-range strike bomber fleet for the U.S. Air Force, a program that could eventually cost more than $80 billion.

A protest against the loss was last week turned down by the Government Accountability Office, though Boeing, which bid alongside Lockheed Martin Corp. could opt to take the Pentagon to court in an effort to reopen the contest.

Boeing still retains the contract to build new refueling tankers for the Air Force, and has said that program is back on track after design and technical problems delayed the first flight.

The company had identified the bomber as one of a number of key opportunities in a limited array of big-ticket Pentagon work, which includes the new T-X trainer jet, a proposed new Navy drone and the JSTARS surveillance plane.

It is looking for additional work against the backdrop of declining orders for its existing combat jet line up, including the F-15 and the F/A-18.

Write to Doug Cameron at doug.cameron@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 24, 2016 17:07 ET (22:07 GMT)

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