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BAE Systems: What the Defense Contractor Does and How Big It Is

BAE Systems spans five defense, aerospace and security sectors. Its 2025 report shows £30.662bn in sales, £28.336bn in IFRS revenue and an £83.6bn order backlog.
From TheFinanceBase Team3 min to read
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BAE Systems is a multinational defense, aerospace and security company with five business sectors, operations in more than 40 countries and 111,400 employees. For the year ended December 31, 2025, it reported £30.662 billion in sales and £28.336 billion in IFRS revenue—separate measures—as well as an £83.6 billion order backlog. Its work ranges from submarines and combat aircraft to electronic systems, space programs and cyber security.

What BAE Systems does

BAE Systems supplies defense, aerospace and security products and services to government and military customers. Its 2025 annual report groups the business into five sectors. The descriptions below reflect the company’s own account of its activities, not an independent assessment. BAE Systems 2025 annual report

Sector What it covers 2025 sector sales
Electronic Systems Electronic warfare, navigation, sensors, avionics, precision guidance, communications and space systems £7,528 million
Platforms & Services Combat vehicles, weapons and munitions, sustainment, naval ship repair and ammunition-plant operations £5,039 million
Air Aircraft production and support, US programs and future combat-air work £9,299 million
Maritime Shipbuilding and support, submarines and Australian activity £6,797 million
Cyber & Intelligence US intelligence and security work, plus UK-headquartered digital intelligence and cyber security £2,397 million

Sector sales are company-reported figures for 2025; they describe the scale of each business, not the number or value of individual contracts. The five sectors span physical platforms, the systems installed on them, and digital and intelligence services.

Where it operates and how large its workforce is

BAE Systems reports 111,400 employees and operations in more than 40 countries. Its largest reported sales geographies include the United States and the United Kingdom. The company also reports employee counts by sector as of December 31, 2025, including equity-accounted investments; those sector counts exclude a separate headquarters workforce. BAE Systems 2025 annual report

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How to read BAE Systems’ financial scale

For the year ended December 31, 2025, BAE reported sales of £30,662 million and IFRS revenue of £28,336 million. These are not interchangeable labels: the company identifies sales and underlying measures as company-defined financial performance measures, while revenue is derived from IFRS. It reported underlying EBIT of £3,322 million and IFRS operating profit of £2,925 million. BAE Systems 2025 full-year results

Measure 2025 2024 What it represents
Sales £30,662 million £28,335 million Company-defined financial performance measure
IFRS revenue £28,336 million £26,312 million Revenue derived from IFRS
Underlying EBIT £3,322 million £3,015 million Company-defined underlying measure
IFRS operating profit £2,925 million £2,685 million Operating profit derived from IFRS
Order intake £36.8 billion £33.7 billion Orders received during the year, as reported by the company
Order backlog £83.6 billion £77.8 billion Reported stock of orders at year end, not revenue already earned

The distinction between current-year performance and future work matters. Sales, revenue and profit describe activity and results for the reporting year. Order intake measures orders received, while backlog represents orders still to be delivered. Backlog does not mean that all of that value will become revenue immediately; delivery schedules and execution affect when and whether orders are fulfilled.

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Programs that illustrate the business

BAE’s annual report describes long-running naval programs that show why a single year’s sales figure sits alongside work extending over many years. As reported for 2025, five of seven Astute-class submarines had been delivered to the Royal Navy, work continued on the remaining two, and construction was continuing on four Dreadnought-class submarines. The company also reported work on the SSN-AUKUS program, construction of the first five UK Type 26 frigates, and production activity on the first Australian Hunter-class frigate. These are examples of its portfolio, not a complete list. BAE Systems 2025 annual report

Its work also includes aerospace and space programs. BAE reported completing Typhoon deliveries to Qatar in 2025. In May 2025, the company said it had secured a $1.2 billion (£0.9 billion) prime contract for the US Space Force’s Resilient Missile Warning and Tracking Medium Earth Orbit Epoch 2 program, under which it would design and build a satellite constellation. That contract description and value are company-reported. BAE Systems 2025 full-year results

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The 2025 results release also described a UK-Saudi government agreement that BAE anticipated would be worth £4.6 billion to the company. That figure is the company’s stated expected value, not a measure of revenue already booked for 2025. BAE Systems 2025 full-year results

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What these figures do—and do not—tell you

BAE’s reported scale reflects a mix of military platforms, equipment, services and security work, with a substantial order book tied to programs that can run for years. Company financial disclosures establish the reported measures and program status, but they do not by themselves provide an independent evaluation of financial performance, defense policy, arms exports, procurement controversies, labor or environmental impacts, or the cost and delivery outcomes of individual programs.

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