Aerospace manufacturer Boeing has officially designated its St. Louis site as the headquarters of its Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS) division, returning the unit to Missouri after nearly a decade.
The move shifts leadership from Arlington, Virginia, back to St. Louis, where Boeing’s defense operations were headquartered from 1997 to 2017.
“It’s important for leaders to be side-by-side with our teammates, listening to their feedback and removing obstacles as we continue to stabilize and strengthen our business,” said Steve Parker, CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security.
Parker said the decision reflects Boeing’s strategy to position senior leadership closer to major engineering, production and manufacturing centers.
Located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. Midwest, St. Louis has long been a major aerospace and advanced manufacturing hub. The region is home to a dense network of defense contractors, research institutions, and skilled engineering talent, supported by universities such as Washington University in St. Louis and Saint Louis University. Aerospace manufacturing in the area dates back decades, with McDonnell Douglas — acquired by Boeing in 1997 — anchoring the region’s defense industry.
Today, the St. Louis region employs more than 18,000 Boeing workers across defense, commercial and services operations. The site supports aircraft production, sustainment, engineering and advanced prototyping through Phantom Works.
The headquarters designation comes as Boeing continues multi-year, multi-billion-dollar investments in advanced combat aircraft facilities in the region. Company leaders said the relocation will better align decision-making with on-the-ground execution for U.S. defense customers and global partners.
The announcement reinforces St. Louis’s longstanding role as a cornerstone of the U.S. aerospace and defense ecosystem, building on decades of manufacturing expertise and workforce development in the region.
