The European manufacturer Airbus has repeatedly said that it does not make sense to have two fighter jet programmes, and its chief executive, Guillaume Faury, told reporters in January that the two programmes should work more closely together, potentially on drones and communications systems that will integrate with the fighter jets.
Weapons companies have benefited from a rush of spending in the three years since Russia invaded Ukraine, and they are gearing up for further increases as Europe and the UK, which is reviewing defence spending, scramble to adjust to Donald Trump’s signals that the US will withdraw much of its support.
Woodburn said that Ukraine would “need to rebuild” its weapons and would “look to companies such as us” for items such as replacing worn out artillery barrels even if there was a peace deal, he said.
Charles Woodburn, the chief executive of BAE Systems, said the company was “waiting for some clarity” about the extent of European defence spending increases but “given what’s happening, it’s going to be higher than it is today”.
Woodburn said that “clearly it’s feasible” for the UK to send Typhoon fighter jets, which are manufactured by a consortium including BAE Systems, to Ukraine.
