MBDA is a missile and missile systems producer, and the 30th largest arms company in the world, according to SIPRI. It was formed in 2001 from a merger of the missile systems units of BAE Systems in the UK, Airbus in France, and Leonardo in Italy. It is 37.5%-owned each by Airbus and BAE, and Leonardo owns 25% of the company. It subsequently acquired missile producers in Germany and Spain and has established a presence in the US.
MBDA characterises itself as “a world-class leader in missiles and missile systems…It is the only European group capable of designing and producing missiles and missile systems to meet the whole range of current and future needs of the three armed forces (land, sea and air).” The company reports that its 45 weapon systems are used by 90 armed forces globally.
MBDA made arms revenues of US$ 5.26 billion in 2024. It employs 18,000 persons globally and has subsidiaries in France, the UK, Germany, and Italy along with joint ventures and part ownership of companies in countries including Spain, Saudi Arabia, India, Germany, and France.
Missiles
MBDA’s primary products are missiles and missile systems.
MBDA’s air-to-air missiles include: the MICA and SPECTRA, which equip the Dassault Rafale fighter jet, the Saphir-400, which equips Airbus A400M transport craft, and the ASRAAM and Meteor, super high-speed missiles for within visual range (WVR) and beyond visual range (BVR) combat respectively, among others. The latter two missiles are produced in the UK. ASRAAM missiles are used by the British and Australian air forces; MBDA reports India has ordered these missiles as well. According to SIPRI data, between 2018 and 2022 MBDA UK exported Meteor and ASRAAM missiles Qatar.
MBDA’s air-to-surface missiles include Storm Shadow, an all-weather missile designed to evade detection that has been used by the UK, Italy and France and in Iraq, Libya and Syria. Its Exocet, TESEO/OTOMAT, and Marte families of missiles are designed to strike ships. MBDA also appears to equip the Boeing GBU-39 precision bomb with folding wings, according to data collected by the Open Source Munitions Portal.
MBDA’s surface-to-surface missiles include: the Brimstone and its variants, which have been used by the RAF and deployed in Afghanistan, Libya and Syria, and the tactical strike missile Spear. Both of these missiles are produced in the UK.
MBDA’s surface-to-air missiles include: the EMADS system within the CAMM family of missiles, and Sea Ceptor, used by the Royal Navy, among others. The three named here are produced in the UK.
According to SIPRI data, between 2018 and 2022 MBDA UK exported missiles to Chile (CAMM), Greece (Meteor), India (Meteor), New Zealand (CAMM), Oman (ASRAAM), Qatar (Meteor and ASRAAM), and Saudi Arabia (Meteor and Brimstone, and in previous years Storm Shadow). The UK government has also given stocks of Brimstone and Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine as military aid.
MBDA in the UK
Headquartered in Stevenage, MBDA’s UK subsidiary MBDA UK made revenues of UK£ 1.32 billion in 2024. It employs close to 6,000 people and has manufacturing sites in Bolton and a site in Bristol.
MBDA UK works closely with the UK Ministry of Defence. In 2024, MBDA signed a renewed 10-year Portfolio Management Agreement (PMA) with the MoD worth at least UK£ 6.5 billion, ensuring it remains the MoD’s preferred missile supplier. As such, it frequently receives very large MoD missile contracts. For example, in November 2025, it was awarded a UK£ 316 million contract to deliver DragonFire systems to the Royal Navy. It was awarded a UK£ 118 million contract in August 2025 for Land Ceptor systems, which fire CAMM missiles, a key component of the UK’s missile defence system, Sky Sabre. MBDA is also involved in the RAF’s Team Tempest program to develop a successor to the Typhoon fighter jet, alongside BAE Systems, Leonardo, Rolls Royce, and General Electric.
Controversies
Saudi Arabia and Yemen
Since the start of the Saudi war on Yemen in 2015, the Saudi Air Force has deployed Brimstone and Storm Shadow missiles from MBDA; the UK government has confirmed that Dual Mode Brimstone and Storm Shadow missiles have been used in Yemen. Both of these are produced in the UK, among others. For more information, see CAAT’s Stop Arming Saudi Arabia campaign and CAAT’s feature on the companies that supplied the war in Yemen. In 2023, MBDA’s US subsidiary won a contract to supply the Saudi Air Force with a Sea Ceptor air defense system and CAMM missiles; 70% of the Sea Ceptor and CAMM work was to be carried out by MBDA UK.
As of 2024, MBDA has a joint venture in Saudi Arabia with SAMI (Saudi Arabian Military Industries). The JV would produce MBDA’s CAMM and CAMM-ER missiles.
Israel and the Palestinian territories
Bombs produced by MBDA have been used in at least 24 airstrikes that killed civilians in Gaza, according to a 2025 investigation by The Guardian and partners. The investigation revealed that revenues from the GBU-39 bomb generated by the MBDA in the UK flowed through the UK. In protest, more than a hundred British engineers and scientists signed an open letter to the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) condemning its inclusion of MBDA in National Engineering Day.
Syria
A range of MBDA missiles, notably the Brimstone, have been used by the RAF in Syria since the UK’s campaign against Islamic State in 2015, as noted above. In 2018, Eurosam, a joint venture between MBDA and Thales, supplied missiles to the Turkish air force, which have been used in strikes in Kurdish regions of Syria. MBDA has been targeted with protest actions accordingly. In 2016, protestors blockaded the entrance to an MBDA site in Henlow, in 2019, protestors blocked the entrance of MBDA’s Bristol site, and in 2023, Cambridge students protested the inclusion of MBDA at an on-campus careers fair.
