MBDA, the first European consortium and world leader in the construction of missiles and defense technologies, recorded record orders for € 2015 billion in 5,2, thanks above all to the Rafale and FREMM contracts signed with Egypt and Qatar. Export orders reached the exceptional level of € 3,6 billion and for the fourth consecutive year they clearly exceeded domestic orders.
With a "book-to-bill" far superior to 1 for the third consecutive year, MBDA has strengthened its order book, thereby securing five years of activity. The company therefore has excellent growth prospects until the end of this decade. In view of the increase in business activities, a vast recruitment plan was therefore undertaken. In fact, the group expects to hire a thousand resources in the 2016, especially in France and the UK.
"Year after year, MBDA has strengthened its presence on export markets and this has allowed the Group to return to growth after a period of decline due to the reduction of defense budgets in domestic markets", said Antoine Bouvier, CEO of MBDA.
"This will allow us to consolidate and confirm our leadership in the missile sector worldwide, at a time when international competition on the markets is increasingly strong. Since the 2001, MBDA's main goal has been to bring together the resources of our European domestic countries to conserve critical mass worldwide. This allows us to ensure cutting-edge technological skills and feeds the growth of innovation in our sector. At the same time, the armed forces of the domestic MBDA countries can benefit at an operational level, while maintaining their own autonomy of action ".
In terms of collaboration and industrial integration, the 2015 has seen a new phase in the One MBDA strategy, with productions from the Excellence Centers for French and British programs, and the signing of an agreement between the two governments. At the end of December, France notified the development contract of the Aster Block 1 NT missile missile (New Technology) and this year Italy should also join, continuing a collaboration that has been going on successfully for decades and that will offer Europe for the first time autonomous defense capabilities against ballistic missiles. Finally, last March 3, during the Franco-British summit in Amiens, the decision to launch a joint design phase for the FC / ASW program (Future Cruise / Anti Ship Weapon) was confirmed.
In the 2015, MBDA has also increased the presence of its systems on European combat aircraft. The Meteor air superiority missile has completed the integration tests on the Gripen and this year it should enter into operational service with the Swedish aeronautics; in the meantime the integration activities on Rafale and Eurofighter Typhoon continue.
In the 2015 the integration on the Brimstone Typhoon was finally started, which thus became the fourth weapon system, after the ASRAAM, the Meteor and the Storm Shadow - and which will be available for the customers of this European fighter. Also in the terrestrial sector the 2015 was a successful year, with the development launches of the MMP (Missile Moyenne Portée) that paved the way for the 2016 start qualifying tests. The first deliveries are foreseen in the 2017, in accordance with the times expressed by the French army.
MBDA is present in five European countries and in the United States. With more than 90 customers among the armed forces of the whole world, it is the second world group in the construction of missile systems and the only European group able to design and produce missiles and missile systems to respond to every operational need, present and future , for terrestrial, naval and air armed forces. In total, the group offers a range of 45 missile systems and countermeasures already in operational service and more than 15 other programs under development.
MBDA is controlled with the same rules of Corporate Governance by the AIRBUS Group (37,5%), BAE SYSTEMS (37,5%) and FINMECCANICA (25%).
(Photo: MBDA)
