The United States is a prime manufacturer and a net exporter of aerospace and defence goods, not an import assembler. AIA, using 2024 data with S&P Global, puts direct output at $556 billion inside $995 billion of total business activity, with exports of $138.6 billion, imports of $64.83 billion, and a $73.9 billion trade surplus. Direct employment was 914,000, of which the defence and national security sector was a 54 percent share and commercial aerospace 43 percent. Those two shares do not add to 100 on the page.
aia-aerospace.org
A China stop does not switch off domestic engine production. Census AIES shipments for aircraft engine and engine parts manufacturing, as published on the FRED series page, were 47,537,406 thousand dollars in 2024, up from 42,224,942 thousand dollars in 2023. The sentence used for the chart is engine and engine parts shipments were 47,537,406 thousand dollars.
fred.stlouisfed.org
On the parts line that WITS publishes as HS 1988/92 code 880330, aircraft parts nes, 2024 US imports were $14,005,459.26 thousand. The United Kingdom was $2,162,721.98 thousand, Japan was $1,814,473.52 thousand, France was $1,597,863.20 thousand, Mexico was $1,370,582.28 thousand, Canada was $1,308,436.63 thousand, and China was $343,794.06 thousand. Those five allied sources keep shipping when China stops. This code is not engines and not complete aircraft.
wits.worldbank.org
The China share of that parts line is 2.45 percent, calculated here as 343,794.06 divided by 14,005,459.26 and rounded to two decimals. WITS does not print the percentage. A China stop removes that slice. It does not remove the United Kingdom, Japan, France, Mexico, or Canada.
wits.worldbank.org
Titanium metal is an aerospace metal, and the sponge import slate is not Chinese. USGS says the majority of titanium metal was used in aerospace applications. The United States produced no sponge in 2025 after the last domestic plant closed in 2024. Net import reliance was greater than 95 percent in 2024 and 100 percent in 2025. Import sources for 2021-24 were Japan 77 percent, Saudi Arabia 13 percent, Kazakhstan 8 percent, and other 2 percent. China is absent from that list. China still produced an estimated 260,000 metric tons of sponge in 2025 against a world total of 370,000 metric tons, so the world supply is concentrated even though the US invoice is not.
pubs.usgs.gov
The installed base is the cash line that can keep moving. GE Aerospace sales of services were $24,847 million in 2024 against equipment sales of $10,274 million, on total revenue of $38,702 million. Commercial Engines and Services revenue was $26,881 million and Commercial Engines and Services operating margin was 26.2 percent. Boeing Global Services revenue was $19,954 million and that segment's earnings from operations were $3,618 million, while Commercial Airplanes lost $7,969 million on revenue of $22,861 million.
sec.govprnewswire.com
Combat aircraft and missiles are a separate bill from airlines. Lockheed Martin reported 2024 net sales of $71,043 million, Aeronautics net sales of $28,618 million, and Missiles and Fire Control net sales of $12,682 million. The press release does not print an F-35 share of those sales.
nasdaq.com
The repair workforce is already on the fleet. BLS reports aircraft mechanics and service technicians held about 140,000 jobs in 2025, and avionics technicians held about 19,800 jobs. The May 2025 median wage was $79,870 for mechanics and $82,280 for avionics technicians.
bls.gov
Taiwan is absent from the opened HS 880330 import table, so the parts invoice is not a Taiwan share. GAO reports DOD estimates that 88 percent of the production and 98 percent of the assembly, packaging, and testing of all microelectronics are performed overseas, primarily in Taiwan, South Korea, and China. That 88 percent and that 98 percent are a multi-country overseas share, not a Taiwan share and not an aircraft content share. The same report says DOD cannot identify where all the microelectronics in the goods it procures are manufactured.
files.gao.govwits.worldbank.org
Step one is the parts invoice, not the whole industry. China was $343,794.06 thousand of 2024 US imports of aircraft parts nes. The United Kingdom was $2,162,721.98 thousand, Japan was $1,814,473.52 thousand, France was $1,597,863.20 thousand, Mexico was $1,370,582.28 thousand, and Canada was $1,308,436.63 thousand. Those flows continue. The 2.45 percent China share is calculated here from 343,794.06 and 14,005,459.26. HS 880330 does not include the engine chapter.
wits.worldbank.org
Step two is titanium, and it is not a China invoice. USGS import sources for sponge in 2021-24 were Japan 77 percent, Saudi Arabia 13 percent, Kazakhstan 8 percent, and other 2 percent. Through July 2025 the leading sources were Japan 73 percent, Kazakhstan 13 percent, and Saudi Arabia 13 percent. Those named sources keep shipping sponge when China trade stops. The customs value of imported sponge was about $460 million in 2025, a 3 percent increase compared with $447 million in 2024. The price was $13.30 per kilogram in 2024 and the 2025 estimate was $12 per kilogram.
pubs.usgs.gov
China is still the large sponge producer. Estimated Chinese sponge production was 256,000 metric tons in 2024 and 260,000 metric tons in 2025, against world totals of 380,000 and 370,000 metric tons. A stop can move the world price and third-country availability even though China is not on the US sponge import list. USGS does not print a US mill-product import share from China on this page.
pubs.usgs.gov
Step three is military-grade electronics inputs that China has already restricted. GAO states that in 2024 China imposed export restrictions on gallium and germanium, two elements critical for military-grade electronics. The page does not print a US defence consumption tonnage for either metal.
files.gao.gov
Step four is Taiwan, and the low-exposure proof is the opened table. The WITS HS 880330 partner table names no Taiwan partner and no Taipei partner. The content share inside an aircraft is unpublished. DOD estimates 88 percent of microelectronics production and 98 percent of assembly, packaging, and testing are overseas, primarily in Taiwan, South Korea, and China. That pair is a multi-country overseas share, not a Taiwan share and not the chip share of a named aircraft or engine. DOD procured $1.3 billion of electronic microcircuits in fiscal years 2020 to 2024, and FPDS identifies the United States as the place of manufacture for nearly 100 percent of those obligations. GAO says that label does not show where the microelectronics were made.
files.gao.govwits.worldbank.org
Step five is the plant and the shop. The short-horizon analog is one quarter. Fourth-quarter commercial deliveries were 57 against 157, and the company reported the delivery change as 64 percent. Fourth-quarter Commercial Airplanes revenue was $4,762 million against $10,481 million. For the full year, deliveries were 348 against 528, and the company reported the full-year delivery change as 34 percent. Defence, space, and security still delivered 112 units and recorded revenue of $23,918 million.
prnewswire.com
Services did not stop in that same year. Boeing Global Services revenue was $19,954 million. GE sales of services were $24,847 million, and the release says a 26 percent increase in material inputs from the first half to the second half of 2024 supported services. In a war path, that services line continues only while rotables, castings, and certificates still move. That continuation is scenario inference, not a 2024 fact.
prnewswire.comsec.gov
Wave 1 is the gateway and the utility, not the repair station. CISA says Volt Typhoon actors are seeking to pre-position on IT networks for disruptive or destructive activity against US critical infrastructure in a major crisis or conflict. Assigning ports to Wave 1 and repair stations to Wave 3 is planning inference from that framing. The measured aviation incident is separate. Delta's 8-K says the CrowdStrike-caused outage disrupted Delta's operations, causing approximately 7,000 flight cancellations over five days. That count is the Delta airline incident, not a defence-sustainment plant and not Volt Typhoon.
cisa.govsec.gov