MBDA's annual press conference was held today in Paris, during which the Group's results in 2022 and the future challenges that await the company were presented.
Eric Béranger, CEO of MBDA, said: “At MBDA, cooperation is our strength. Cooperation for us means the union of our countries and cultures, but also of the skills and technologies that MBDA possesses. Cooperation is what has allowed MBDA to achieve excellent results in 2022. Today more than ever, in a deeply complex international context, we are aware that it is precisely through cooperation that we will be able to excel, to support the strengthening of the sovereignty of our countries and help ensure the safety of people".
Cooperation in programs and technology
MBDA contributes to European air defense security through comprehensive solutions to counter the full range of airborne threats, from long-range ballistic missiles to small unmanned aircraft such as drones.
France, Italy and the United Kingdom are equipped with Aster-based air defense systems, used on frigates and on land-based systems such as the SAMP/T, recently sent to the Ukrainian borders. In 2022 the program for the new generation SAMP/T NG system has taken further steps and will be delivered to Italy and France by 2025 and available for export markets in 2026.
Cooperation in air defense is also built around another important cooperation program between Italy and the United Kingdom: that relating to CAMM and CAMM-ER; for the latter MBDA in 2022 received an order for the Italian Army and the Italian Air Force.
Also worth mentioning is the Sky Warden, our flagship solution to counter unmanned aerial systems (C-UAS: Counter –Unmanned Aerial Systems). It is a modular and scalable system, designed to integrate and control different sensors and effectors. Sky Warden can deal with all threats: from small aircraft to very small drones, which we have recently seen increasing use in conflicts in Europe and beyond.
In the area of deep strike and heavy anti-ship systems, 2022 saw the launch of the next phase of the Future Cruise/Anti-Ship Weapon (FC/ASW) between France and the UK, focused on coordinated program development and reconfirmed last week, during the Franco-British summit in Paris.
The Future Air Combat sector is also a priority for MBDA which is involved in two major programmes: Germany, France and Spain continue to advance on the FCAS (Future Combat Air System) program for which MBDA is responsible for new effectors called Remote Carriers, bringing their expertise in connected collaborative combat.
The same applies to the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) supported by the UK, Italy and Japan, for which MBDA will lead the effector domain.
During 2022 we also made important strides in the direct laser energy weapons sector with the acquisition of Cilas in France, with the positive tests of the Dragonfire system in the United Kingdom and the new tracking technology for high energy lasers (HEL ) in Germany.
Cooperation of cultures and skills
MBDA was founded on the great will of nations to cooperate: this is the strength of the company and what makes it an example of success. It is through the interaction of different cultures, different skills and ways of working, always respecting national priorities, that MBDA has developed as an integrated European company. Investing in people to drive innovation forward and meet customer deliveries continue to be the key objectives of MBDA, which in 2022 marked a record 1.570 new hires in the Group, with plans for over 2.000 additional hires in 2023.
Outside of our domestic countries, among the main export contracts for 2022 we should mention the armament packages for the new Rafale aircraft from the United Arab Emirates and Greece, which has also chosen MBDA for its new frigates, in addition to the contract for missiles CAMM in Poland.
Financial results
In 2022, revenues reached €4,2 billion, in line with the record level of 2021. Order intake reached a new record of €9 billion, taking MBDA's backlog to €22,3 billion of Euro.
MBDA
MBDA is a unique multinational European group. World leader in the field of complex weapon systems, it plays a key role in the security of nations. Created in the spirit of international cooperation, MBDA and its more than 14.000 employees work together to uphold the national sovereignty of France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom and other allied countries around the world. As an accelerator of innovation, MBDA is the only European group able to design and produce complex weapons to meet the full range of current and future operational needs of the three armed forces (land, sea and air). MBDA is controlled with equal Corporate Governance rules by Airbus (37,5%), BAE Systems (37,5%) and Leonardo (25%).
