BAE Systems

BAE Systems formed in 1999 when British Aerospace merged with the defense electronics arm of Marconi, and the combined company has grown since into one of the largest defense contractors in the world, organized around five reporting segments: Air, Maritime, Land or Platforms and Services depending on the region, Electronic Systems, and Cyber and Intelligence. The Air business builds and supports the Eurofighter Typhoon for the UK and export customers, produces the Hawk advanced jet trainer flown by air forces and aerobatic teams worldwide, and holds a major share of F-35 production work, including a chunk of the aircraft's rear fuselage assembly. Looking further out, BAE is a lead partner on the Global Combat Air Programme, known as Tempest in the UK, a sixth generation fighter being developed jointly with Italy and Japan for service in the 2030s. Maritime covers the UK's submarine and surface fleet from the design and build side.

BAE builds Astute-class nuclear attack submarines and is now under contract for the Dreadnought-class, the boats that will carry Britain's nuclear deterrent into the next generation, alongside SSN-AUKUS, the attack submarine being developed jointly with the US and Australia. On the surface fleet, BAE builds the Type 26 frigate for the Royal Navy and export customers including Australia and Canada, following earlier work on the Type 45 destroyer, and it supplies radar and combat systems such as the SAMPSON and CAPTOR radars found on those ships and on the Typhoon. Land and Platforms and Services, split slightly differently between the UK parent and its US subsidiary, covers combat vehicles, artillery, and munitions. That business includes the M2/M3 Bradley fighting vehicle, the M109 Paladin self propelled howitzer, the M777 towed howitzer, and, through Swedish subsidiaries, the CV90 infantry fighting vehicle and the Archer wheeled artillery system, plus the Hägglunds line of tracked vehicles and the UK's Challenger 2 and Warrior armored platforms.

Electronic Systems, largely run out of the US, makes electronic warfare equipment, navigation systems, electro optical sensors, avionics for both military and commercial aircraft, precision guided munitions components, and space electronics, an area that grew substantially with the 2024 purchase of Ball Aerospace for 5.6 billion dollars. Cyber and Intelligence provides cybersecurity, intelligence support, and secure communications work for government customers on both sides of the Atlantic. BAE Systems now employs more than one hundred thousand people worldwide, trades on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker BA., and counts the UK and US governments as its two largest customers by a wide margin, alongside long standing export relationships with Saudi Arabia, Australia, and other allies. Few companies in the industry match its combination of platform manufacturing, submarine and warship building, and electronics, which lets BAE bid on programs that require prime integration across air, sea, and land simultaneously.