Europe’s largest missile maker boosted production and deliveries by 33% in 2024 compared to the previous year, as demand from governments across the continent for air defenses and battlefield munitions lifted orders to a record high.
Multinational corporation MBDA expects missile production to double this year from the 2023 level, Chief Executive Officer Éric Béranger said at the firm’s annual press conference in Paris this week, the European Security and Defence website reported.
MBDA is a pan-European joint venture between Airbus, the U.K.’s BAE Systems and Italy’s Leonardo.
The company’s orders have surged since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with European countries spending billions to strengthen their air defenses as well as help Ukraine.
MBDA may stand to gain further over concerns about whether the U.S. is a reliable supplier of weapons to Europe, as President Donald Trump threatens to withhold NATO security guarantees, the Defense News website reported.
“This is a little bit of a moment of truth for Europe,” Béranger said. “We have all the technological capabilities that we need; we have the brains, which means that it is really a matter of what we want to do in Europe... This is the reason why the moment is absolutely historic.”
MBDA is the only Western company besides American firms capable of producing “the full range of complex weapons,” Béranger said.
The company makes short-, medium- and long-range air-defense missiles, cruise missiles, anti-ship missiles and anti-tank munitions, and is developing a hypersonic interceptor.
MBDA’s orders jumped to a record €13.8 billion last year from €9.9 billion in 2023, and up from €5.1 billion in 2021, before Russia invaded Ukraine.
Meanwhile, sales rose to €4.9 billion from €4.5 billion a year earlier.
The company is set to invest €2.4 billion through to 2029 to accelerate production and is targeting 2,600 new hires this year. It recruited 2,500 people in 2024, increasing the workforce to more than 18,000 employees.
MBDA is a pan-European joint venture between Airbus, the U.K.’s BAE Systems and Italy’s Leonardo.
The company’s orders have surged since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with European countries spending billions to strengthen their air defenses as well as help Ukraine.
MBDA may stand to gain further over concerns about whether the U.S. is a reliable supplier of weapons to Europe, as President Donald Trump threatens to withhold NATO security guarantees, the Defense News website reported.
“This is a little bit of a moment of truth for Europe,” Béranger said. “We have all the technological capabilities that we need; we have the brains, which means that it is really a matter of what we want to do in Europe... This is the reason why the moment is absolutely historic.”
MBDA is the only Western company besides American firms capable of producing “the full range of complex weapons,” Béranger said.
The company makes short-, medium- and long-range air-defense missiles, cruise missiles, anti-ship missiles and anti-tank munitions, and is developing a hypersonic interceptor.
Orders shoot up
MBDA’s orders jumped to a record €13.8 billion last year from €9.9 billion in 2023, and up from €5.1 billion in 2021, before Russia invaded Ukraine.
Meanwhile, sales rose to €4.9 billion from €4.5 billion a year earlier.
The company is set to invest €2.4 billion through to 2029 to accelerate production and is targeting 2,600 new hires this year. It recruited 2,500 people in 2024, increasing the workforce to more than 18,000 employees.
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