BAE Systems has announced plans to significantly expand its workforce and ramp up investment in response to growing global demand for defence capabilities.
The FTSE 100-listed company revealed that it plans to hire 2,400 new apprentices, undergraduates, and graduates across the UK in 2025 as part of a wider effort to strengthen its operational capacity.
The announcement follows a strong start to the year, with trading in line with management’s expectations. According to a market update released ahead of BAE’s Annual General Meeting, the company stated:
“We’ve had a strong start to 2025 and are maintaining our guidance for the full year. During this time where the defence and security landscape is rapidly evolving, we are focused on delivering our long-term programme commitments to our customers, while investing in our business to boost capacity, drive efficiencies and shape our portfolio to support future growth.”
The company also confirmed it will build on its £1 billion capital expenditure from 2024, with new infrastructure developments planned, including an explosives filling facility in South Wales, a shipbuilding assembly hall in Glasgow, and a modern ship lift and repair site in Florida. All three projects are expected to become operational this summer.
BAE Systems remains confident about its financial outlook, with the company expecting revenue growth of between 7% and 9% for 2025, alongside an 8% to 10% rise in underlying earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT). Free cash flow for the year is projected to exceed £1.1 billion.
The company highlighted several major contracts secured so far this year, including a $356 million order for Armoured Multi-Purpose Vehicles and a $360 million contract from the US Marine Corps for Amphibious Combat Vehicles. Additionally, BAE has secured a nearly $800 million contract to extend integration support for the US Air Force.
CEO Charles Woodburn stated that BAE Systems is “well positioned to capture additional defence spending,” as the geopolitical landscape drives NATO and allied nations to bolster their military capabilities.
The company cited increased defence spending from European NATO members and the UK’s commitment to raising defence investment to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 as factors supporting long-term growth. BAE also noted strong demand in the US, driven by the government’s focus on maintaining military superiority, and ongoing projects in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions.
The company’s investment strategy includes a focus on emerging technologies such as electronic warfare, autonomy, laser-guided weapons, uncrewed air systems, and space solutions. Woodburn emphasised that maintaining a competitive edge in these areas is essential for future success.
BAE also underlined its commitment to skills development, with plans to recruit thousands of new apprentices and graduates to support its expanding operations. The company has also completed £392 million of its planned £1.5 billion share buyback programme.
Is BAE’s management still UK based?
So much of their income is US, I wonder whether they are really a UK company any more.
It is ,based in London.
Almost two separate companies even the uk based headquarters management have access to the American side somewhat limited beyond the financials and investment, the technological side where it’s US originated at least, is highly protected.
The us BAE is a company essentially owned by bae systems.
Times are reporting that the SDR could be published next week, but will be very vague. BIg decisions delayed are to be delayed till the Autumn. If that’s true that’s quite disappointing, considering this review has been in the pipeline since last Summer.
As regards timing I expect the govt getting its ducks in a row. The UK-EU ‘reset’ summit is scheduled for May19th; defence, trade, youth mobility scheme. I think we will see a commitment of UK troops to a de facto ‘European army’ in order to get access to EU defence funds.
I think it is highly unwise for the UK to commit to European defence (other than through NATO) unless they agree to open up their markets to our business fully and also stop taking our fish from our waters and for us to have a returns agreement on those people crossing illegally into our territory. I’d also like in the agreement that Britain’s position on the Falklands and Gibraltar are recognized by the EU by legal statute. The biggest threat (far exceeding Russia by a country mile) is now the issue of people entering our country illegally. We should refuse to support Europe unless these conditions are met. It’s about time the UK government got some balls and started using defence as leverage. We always seem to be too nice by far. I would like to see a bit of very hard headed foreign policy like Thatcher had in her day. Anything not aligning within the British national interest should be ditched. Personally I think we would be far better aligning more closely with Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan as well. The first responsibility of government is in the defence and security of its own people and not foreign countries that have tried to punish the UK at all opportunities.
So, we should rely on countries the other side of the globe for our defence?
Well, that’s going to work well should the Russians decide to get adventurous and take out say..North of England. Two nukes across the narrow bit where Hadrian had his ambition crushed
Yes, unlikely, but it could take out our submarine Base, the nuclear stockpile, even Newcastles new trophy cabinet.
Yes we’ve got migrants, boat people….bit like Australia’s Aboriginal people had. Well why do they come here? Not for the warm welcome I would hazard. And they’d not get rich on our handouts…how many IPhones can you carry in your Versace suit when your a Somali teenager? We’ve got a criminal haven, look over the last 5 years, millionaires created by a pandemic where Mates Rates meant thrice the price.
Car wash sir.? Done by brown people with not much English..but a cash rich enterprise? Maybe they come here for the weather.
But Britain’s always been a migrant magnet, Maltese gangs, Italian gangs, Irish gangs, French onion sellers shrugging their way through Kent?
What are we afraid of? We sold all our council houses, we gave away our infrastructure, we have more railway companies than Canada and USA combined..we’re a basket case. Where only the truly filthy rich have any influence.
I think a decent PR Campaign telling the truth about Britain could reverse the migrant flow quicker than a turd travelling through Thames Water
I always like the left in their response as they are oh so predictable as they always try to paint people in a negative light for voicing dissenting views. A bit like Lucy Powell from Labour…still I can safely say in four years time Labour will cease to exist as a viable political force they have lost the arguments and the narrative and have lost the votes of the British population (1/3 regret voting for them when their vote share was only 35% anyway). People have had enough of being castigated for stating the obvious about mass migration being the biggest threat to the UK. There is a sea change happening in the UK and I suspect that reform will get a landslide come the next election. However, keep castigating people like me and the majority of the British population and see support for the uni-party melt away as you have thoroughly and comprehensively lost the argument when it comes to the majority of the British population. Asylum is an anachronism of a bygone age when global travel was not available for the vast bulk of the third world. Now it is you are talking about 100 million displaced people through conflict…this is scale of the issue facing Europe, the US, UK, Canada, Australia and the rest of the anglo-sphere. There is zero chance that any of these countries can absorb this many people (look at the 1 million we tried to absorb with the Boris wave – it’s totally infeasible). Fortunately, Boris is a busted flush as is Kemi and the rest of the truly dreadful, awful, lying and deceitful Tory party (they will never ever be forgiven for their 14 years in office). It’s Labour’s turn next to feel the ire of the British population at the next general election at the ballot box and their last minute attempts to sort out mass migration is smoke and mirrors like the rest of the uni-party. This has all changed now and I expect both the 1951 convention and the ECHR to be dropped within the next five years (the penny is dropping with everyone what the true cost of altruism truly are).
Personally, it can’t come soon enough in my opinion as it belongs to the 1950s and not the 21st Century (in the words of a Labour MP as well – would you buy a used car from the 1950s in the 21st century). The British people are not here to solve all the world’s problems as well as open up our welfare state to the world as we are now – our infrastructure is collapsing through shear volume of people and no people from overseas (other than Europe) have been proven definitely to be a net drain to the hard up tax payer. As far as Europe goes it’s up to the Europeans to look after their defence if they treat us like a dumping grounds for all the problems they are throwing our way. I know for a fact it’s now only time before we have a properly centre right party in power that will finally deal with the uni-party mess that has been created. I quite liked the Britain of the 1980s as it was a great place to live (yes I lived through it and even in poverty it was a great place to live with proper free speech) and quite frankly the UK today is a mess of mass migration, low wages, low investment, divergent living standards and all because the rich can import endless labour (that doesn’t integrate into the general populous) into the UK to lower salaries for everyone else and increase the cost of housing to British people. It’s interesting that many upper middle class run both Labour, Liberal Democrats and the left wing Tories…they love this situation as they can profiteer from the misery of the British people. You also alluded to historical injustices and I suspect you might think we owe sub-Saharan Africa for these injustices…no we don’t as: (a) They created some of their own problems and colluded in many of the things that occurred, (b) they have been independent for over 80 years and still haven’t sorted out their own countries and (c) I don’t come from that time period in European history that was involved in these issues. Therefore, I and many other British people feel zero obligation in helping these people or their associated countries. They need to fix their own lives and their own countries whilst we fix ours. I only care about the British population and their needs and requirements, I pay my taxes and obey the law and vote at every election but I and others have been massively let down by the uni-party and their acolytes.
I disagree. Putin has been forced to meet Zelensky for face to face talks because Starmer, Macron, Tusk and Merz have threatened further economic sanctions against a struggling Russian economy. Zelensky has signed his minerals deal so Trump has no excuse now – be is also being cajoled into line on weapons supplies and acknowledging the truth about Putin. Amazing what a day in the Vatican can achieve. Putin’s strategy has always been divide and conquer: divide the UK from the EU, divide Germany from the US, break NATO by separating the US from Europe. The unified European team of UK, France, Germany and Poland constitute a military and economic threat he fears. Europe is back and is calling his bluff.
Article seems a bit out of date unless they are building another ship hall in Glasgow.
I think they are talking about the Govan ship hall. My understanding is that they got half of the hall sort of finished so that they could start putting blocks of ship no.3 in it. The hall wasn’t due to be completed until this spring.
Cheers CR
“A company from here, doing rather well over there”
Oh dear don’t tempt fate, the company that nationalistically coined and promoted that phrase in their ads ie Hanson is now foreign owned and pretty much broken up. Typically British sadly, like Racal a brisk rise inevitably leads to eventual sell off once a plateau is reached and further investment deemed less appealing than present cashing in, Deliveroo the latest example only last week. Bae of course was once tempted to move to America but thanks to Trump that idea returning to Management minds is probably very much reduced now thankfully as even their traditional defence and technology businesses are at risk to business being given to Musk and co due to a debt being paid off.
In the days of yore BAES was run largely on American management. Whilst it still quotes on the stock market here, the bulk of its money isn’t made here. Its RBSL deal will lead it more to the dreaded EU side. But it’s slide towards ships rather than vehicles in Britain isn’t going to stop. Mathew Thorn, you need to get out more
I’m just waiting for Trump to sign an executive order that US defence companies must be US owned. Where would that leave British Aerospace Systems?
With a golden UK Gov share.
Trump wants things to be made in America. Most of BAE sales in the USA are already manufactured there.
He is also looking for inward investment and BAE Systems seem to be on the ball in that regard. Nevertheless, Trump has been known to change his mind.
Cheers CR