BAE Systems has a 37.5% stake in the MBDA joint venture with Airbus and Leonardo.[i] MBDA is the prime contractor for the French ASMPA and ASN4G missiles. BAE Systems also supports the sustainment of the U.S. ICBM inventory, is contracted for work on the submarine-launched Trident missiles and builds the new UK Dreadnought class submarines.
[i] About Us (no date) | MBDA Missile Systems. Available at: https://www.mbda-systems.com/about-us/ (Accessed: 21 October 2024).
Nuclear weapons
BAE Systems is involved in three nuclear weapon arsenals: those of France, the United Kingdom and the United States.
BAE Systems is part of the MBDA joint venture. MBDA France is the prime contractor for the ASMPA medium-range air-to-ground nuclear armed missile for the French nuclear arsenal.[i] MBDA is also contracted by the French government for work related to development of the ASMPA-successor, the ASN4G.[ii] The new weapon is scheduled to enter service in 2035 with range exceeding 1,000km, double that of the ASMPA,[iii] and will incorporate new hypersonic technologies.[iv]
BAE Systems has been the prime contractor for the U.S. Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) integration support.[v] In June 2022, BAE Systems received an 18-year, $12 billion contract to continue supporting the sustainment of the US' ICBM inventory.[vi] The contract provides for services support for both the Minuteman III and its replacement, the Sentinel. In August 2024, however, after several bid protests to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Air Force cancelled the contract altogether.[vii] A new contract is currently under development, where the Sentinel and Minuteman III programs will be merged under one directorate.[viii] In the meantime, BAE Systems will continue its work under the contract awarded in 2022. BAE Systems has a second outstanding contract for work on the ICBM systems since 2013, valued at $1.8 billion.[ix]
BAE Systems is also contracted by the U.S. government for work on the U.S. and UK Trident II D5 strategic weapon systems. Until September 2024, it held two contracts for Trident-related services with a combined value of $297 million.[x] It also has an outstanding contract for logistics engineering and integration support services for the Trident weapon systems, expected to run until January 2027, with a potential value of $105 million.[xi]
BAE Systems is also part of the Dreadnought Alliance, a joint management team between the Submarine Delivery Agency (SDA) of the British Ministry of Defence, BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce. [xii] BAE Systems is the lead for the whole boat build and secondary propulsion and is also the platform technical authority on the Dreadnought programme.[xiii] In May 2022, the Ministry of Defence announced it had awarded additional contracts for the Dreadnought programme of over £2 billion to BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce, as an initial investment within a planned overall total of £10 billion for the whole delivery phase.[xiv] BAE Systems also has an outstanding contract, valued at $71.9 million, for work on U.S. Columbia-class nuclear armed submarines.[xv]
[i] ‘Projet annuel de performances. Budget général. Projets Annuels de Performances. Annexe au Projet de Loi de Finances pour 2025: Programme 146. Équipement des forces’, RÉPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE (2024), p. 32. Available at: https://www.budget.gouv.fr/documentation/file-download/24758;
ASMPA (no date) | MBDA Missile Systems. Available at: https://www.mbda-systems.com/product/asmpa/ (Accessed: 21 October 2024).
[ii] ‘Projet annuel de performances. Budget général. Projets Annuels de Performances. Annexe au Projet de Loi de Finances pour 2025: Programme 146. Équipement des forces’, RÉPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE (2024), p. 35. Available at: https://www.budget.gouv.fr/documentation/file-download/24758.
[iii] Hans M. Kristensen, Matt Korda, and Eliana Johns, ‘French Nuclear Weapons, 2023’, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 79:4, 272-281, p. 276. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00963402.2023.2223088;
‘France kicks off development of wingman drone for Rafale fighter jet’, DefenseNews, 9 October 2024. Available at: France kicks off development of wingman drone for Rafale fighter jet (defensenews.com).
[iv] Hans M. Kristensen, Matt Korda, and Eliana Johns, ‘French Nuclear Weapons, 2023’, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 79:4, 272-281, p. 276. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00963402.2023.2223088;
‘RAPPORT D’INFORMATION DÉPOSÉ en application de l’article 145 du Règlement PAR LA COMISION DE LA DÉFENSE NATIONALE ET DES FORCES ARMÉES portant recueil d’auditions de la commission sur la dissuasion nucléaire’, ASSEMBLÉE NATIONALE (2023). Available at: Rapport d'information n°1112 - 16e législature - Assemblée nationale (assemblee-nationale.fr).
[v] Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (no date) | BAE Systems. Available at: Ground Based Midcourse SITR | BAE Systems (Accessed: 21 October 2024).
[vi] BAE Systems wins contract to continue sustaining U.S. intercontinental ballistic missiles. BAE Systems, 27 June 2022. Available at: https://www.baesystems.com/en-us/article/bae-systems-wins-contract-to-continue-sustaining-us-intercontinental-ballistic-missiles; IDV to BAE SYSTEMS TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS & SERVICES INC.| USAspending, 24 June 2022. Available at: IDV to BAE SYSTEMS TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS & SERVICES INC. | USAspending (Accessed: 21 October 2024); Contracts for June 24, 2022 (2022) U.S. Department of Defense. Available at: > U.S. Department of Defense > Contract (Accessed: 21 October 2024).
[vii] ‘Air Force merges ICBM program management offices’, DefenseOne, 5 September 2024. Available at: Air Force merges ICBM program management offices - Defense One.
[viii] Ibid; ‘Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center stands up merged ICBM Systems Directorate’, US Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, 27 August 2024. Available at: Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center stands up merged ICBM Systems Directorate > Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center > Display (af.mil).
[ix] CONTRACT to BAE SYSTEMS TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS & SERVICES INC.| USAspending, 1 August 2013. Available at: CONTRACT to BAE SYSTEMS TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS & SERVICES INC. | USAspending (Accessed: 24 January 2024); Contracts for July 31, 2014 (2014) U.S. Department of Defense. Available at: > U.S. Department of Defense > Contract (Accessed: 21 October 2024); Contracts for July 31, 2014 (2014) U.S. Department of Defense. Available at: > U.S. Department of Defense > Contract (Accessed: 21 October 2024); Contracts for January 31, 2023 (2023) U.S. Department of Defense. Available at: https://www.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract/Article/3284067/ (Accessed: 21 October 2024).
[x] CONTRACT to BAE SYSTEMS TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS & SERVICES INC.| USAspending, 1 October 2021. Available at: https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_AWD_N0003022C6001_9700_-NONE-_-NONE- (Accessed: 21 October 2024); Contracts for September 30, 2021 (2022) U.S. Department of Defense. Available at: > U.S. Department of Defense > Contract (Accessed: 21 October 2024); Contracts for September 18, 2023 (2023) U.S. Department of Defense. Available at: > U.S. Department of Defense > Contract (Accessed: 21 October 2024);
Contracts for November 15, 2023 (2023) U.S. Department of Defense. Available at: > U.S. Department of Defense > Contract (Accessed: 21 October 2024);
BAE Systems has been awarded a five-year Systems Engineering and Integration Support Services contract to continue supporting the U.S. Navy Strategic Systems Programs (SSP) office, BAE Systems, 27 October 2021. Available at: BAE Systems awarded $478 million U.S. Navy contract for systems engineering and integration services | BAE Systems.
CONTRACT to BAE SYSTEMS TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS & SERVICES INC.| USAspending, 1 October 2022. Available at: CONTRACT to BAE SYSTEMS TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS & SERVICES INC. | USAspending (Accessed: 21 October 2024); Contracts for October 21, 2022 (2022) U.S. Department of Defense. Available at: https://www.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract/Article/3196439/ (Accessed: 21 October 2024).
[xi] CONTRACT to BAE SYSTEMS TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS & SERVICES INC.| USAspending, 1 October 2023. Available at: CONTRACT to BAE SYSTEMS TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS & SERVICES INC. | USAspending (Accessed: 21 October 2024); Contracts for September 21, 2023 (2023) U.S. Department of Defense. Available at: > U.S. Department of Defense > Contract (Accessed: 21 October 2024).
[xii] Alliance partners (no date) | Dreadnought Alliance. Available at: Alliance partners - Dreadnought Alliance (Accessed: 21 October 2024).
[xiii] Dreadnought (no date) | BAE Systems. Available at: Dreadnought | BAE Systems (Accessed: 21 October 2024).
[xiv] More than £2 billion to boost UK submarine programme. Government of the United Kingdom, 9 may 2022. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/more-than-2-billion-to-boost-uk-submarine-programme.
[xv] IDV to BAE SYSTEMS LAND & ARMAMENTS L.P.| USAspending, 18 January 2023. Available at: IDV to BAE SYSTEMS LAND & ARMAMENTS L.P. | USAspending (Accessed: 21 October 2024); Contracts for January 18, 2023 (2023) U.S. Department of Defense. Available at: > U.S. Department of Defense > Contract (Accessed: 21 October 2024).
Investments
Last updated: 2025-02-27 14:36:43