Of the 600 multinationals that make up the European Stoxx 600 stock market index, only one is currently trading at historic highs: it is the British company BAE Systems, in the defense sector, whose shares have a surge this Monday to 800.8 pence (+2.2%, +45% since the start of the year). Contracts are multiplying at breakneck speed for the British company.
The US Department of Defense awarded BAE Systems on Friday a $12 billion (just under £10 billion and €11.3 billion) contract for intercontinental ballistic missile systems. The British arms manufacturer, which generated a turnover of 21 billion pounds last year, won the American tender against four competitors.
The day before, other good news for BAE Systems, Spain had formalized, during the international air show in Berlin, an order for twenty Eurofighter combat aircraft, built by three European companies, including BAE Systems (alongside Airbus and Leonardo ). Amount of the contract, which also includes a simulator and the necessary support services? Just over 2 billion euros.
Where Germany made the choice, in March, to order planes Made in USA (Lockheed Martin’s F-35s) to fulfill its nuclear mission for NATO, Madrid chose to replace its previous fleet of F-18s, manufactured by the American McDonnell Douglas (bought in 1997 by Boeing) and used by the Spanish air forces in the Canary Islands, by European aircraft.
This contract will bring the number of Eurofighters held by Spain to 90, with a first delivery scheduled for 2026. The country has pledged to increase its defense budget to bring it to 2% of its GDP, deeming this effort necessary , especially in the face of ” threatens “ of Russia. It will host the NATO summit tomorrow.