Europe’s largest armaments company in the overview

The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz demanded that the European armaments companies grow together. Here is a list of the The biggest weapons forge in Europe:

The British conglomerate is the largest armaments group in Europe. Bae Systems builds weapons for land forces, marine and the Air Force. The order stock added up to £ 77.8 billion (93 billion euros) in early 2025, the annual turnover was last £ 28. The largest sales markets for BAE are the USA, Saudi Arabia and Europe.

The aircraft manufacturer also produces armaments – such as the military van A400M or fighter planes as well as satellite systems. Airbus is involved in the Eurofighter consortium. In the satellite business, Airbus is looking for cooperation with European companies such as the French Thales and the Italian Leonardo. Airbus generated sales of EUR 69.2 billion last year – including civilian products.

The Italian group produces helicopters, radar systems and drones as well as armor electronics. He has repeatedly campaigned for European mergers. Leonardo has founded a joint venture with Rheinmetall for the construction of tanks and holds almost 23 percent at the Munich sensor specialist and armaments company Hensoldt. Anchorageer at Leonardo is the Italian state, which holds around 30 percent of the shares. Leonardo recorded annual sales of EUR 17.8 billion in 2024.

The French armaments and technology group is active in military technology. He maintains joint ventures with Leonardo, among others – and also speaks to Airbus. The French state and armaments company Dassault are also shareholder. In 2024, Thales brought an annual turnover of 20.5 billion euros. In the defense business, the order inputs added up to 14.7 billion euros. Together with Rheinmetall and KNDS, MGCS (Main Ground Combat System), a Franco-German armaments program that aims to replace the battle tank Leopard 2 and Leclerc by a floor fighting system by 2040.

The British large corporation is not to be confused with the luxury car manufacturer of the same name, but has established itself as one of the leading manufacturers of aircraft engines worldwide. For example, Rolls-Royce engines are installed in the American F-35. The company also produces nuclear reactors for British submarines and will also provide this technology for new Australian submarines. The defense division generated sales of 4.5 billion pounds in 2024. In addition to the military business, the group also works in the civil aviation sector, shipping and energy sector.

The German Group is the largest ammunition product in Europe. However, it also produces combat tanks such as the Panther and produces parts for the Leopard, and drones and anti -aircraft systems also produce at Rheinmetall. In 2023, the Düsseldorf turned sales of EUR 7.2 billion, in 2024 it should be around 10 billion euros.

The Swedish aviation and armaments group is primarily known for its fighter jet Jas 39 gripes. In addition to fighter planes, Saab produces a wide range of defense technologies, including radar systems, surveillance systems, submarine technology and weapon systems such as the portable tank weapon AT4. Saab made sales of 63.75 billion Swedish crowns (5.8 billion euros) in 2024.

The manufacturer of the German “Taurus” marching aircraft is a joint venture between Airbus, Bae Systems and Leonardo. The “Taurus” sister models “Scalp” in France and “Storm Shadow” in Great Britain also came from MBDA. In cooperation with his US partner Raytheon, MBDA is also planning to produce patriot components.

The Franco-German group emerged in 2015 from the German “Leopard 2” tank manufacturer Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and the French armaments group Nexter. KNDS is involved in the tank gear manufacturer Renk.

The state-owned French group builds submarines and naval ships and competes with the naval division of Thyssenkrupp.

In addition to cruise ships, the Italian shipyard also produces warships. The shipyard group had repeatedly shown interest in the Thyssenkrupp marine daughter TKMS.

The naval subsidiary of the German Group Thyssenkrupp builds submarines and frigates. Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems employs around 8,000 people on the three shipyards Kiel, Wismar and Itajai in Brazil. The order stock of Marine Systems recently climbed to more than 16 billion euros. Thyssenkrupp is working on the division of the division.