Boeing making big bucks leasing drones

Boeing Co, the second-largest US defense contractor, is leasing drones to government agencies and militaries seeking to bypass years-long purchasing processes, a market the company says may grow to $10 billion in a decade.

Boeing won contracts in 2007-08 for a $312.7 million to supply the US Navy and Marine Corps with ScanEagle spy drones on a fee-for-service basis and also got a $250 million contract from the US Special Operations Command. Boeing owns the equipment and sends the operators where the military wants them.

Drones may be used to perform surveillance and cargo-delivery missions for militaries and civilian agencies worldwide, said Phil Panagos, Boeing's director of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Services.