Blurs

Major UK weapons manufacturers (prime contractors) These are the companies that design and build complete weapons systems: • BAE Systems – by far the UK’s largest defence company (warships, submarines, aircraft, munitions) • Babcock International – naval support, submarines, military infrastructure • Rolls-Royce Holdings – nuclear submarine reactors, military jet engines • MBDA – missiles (joint UK/France/Italy company, major UK presence) • Leonardo UK – radar, sensors, helicopters • Thales - surveillance systems used by armed forces around the world 👉 There are roughly 5–10 major “prime” weapons manufacturers in the UK. The wider defence industry Beyond the primes, the picture gets much bigger. Thousands of companies supply: • Components (electronics, metals, software) • Subsystems (guidance, propulsion) • Maintenance and support According to UK defence industry data: • Around 12,000+ companies are involved in the UK defence supply chain • Only a fraction of these actually manufactur...