BAE SYSTEMS PLC
BAE Systems plc is a public limited company registered in England and Wales under company number 01470151. Incorporated on 31 December 1979, it was originally named British Aerospace Limited and traded as British Aerospace Public Limited Company from 1981 until adopting its current name in 2000. Its registered office is at 6 Carlton Gardens, London, SW1Y 5AD, and its status with Companies House is active. Companies House classifies the company’s activities under SIC codes covering the manufacture of weapons and ammunition, motor vehicles, ships and floating structures, and aircraft and spacecraft.
BAE Systems plc is a defence, aerospace and security company with businesses spanning air, maritime, land, electronic systems and digital intelligence, alongside a substantial United States operation conducted through its subsidiary BAE Systems, Inc. Its products include combat aircraft such as the Eurofighter Typhoon, submarines and surface warships, armoured fighting vehicles, munitions and missile systems, and electronic warfare, cyber security and intelligence capabilities. Its principal customers are national governments and defence ministries, including the UK Ministry of Defence and the US Department of Defense, with additional programmes across Europe, the Middle East, Australia and Asia-Pacific.
BAE Systems plc’s ordinary shares are admitted to trading on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker BA. (ISIN GB0002634946) and the company is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. For the year ended 31 December 2025, the company reported record sales of £30.7 billion, up 10% year-on-year, underlying EBIT of £3.3 billion, up 12%, and a record order backlog of £83.6 billion, according to its full-year results. The company reported a workforce of around 90,500 employees in more than 40 countries. On 27 March 2025, BAE Systems plc completed its approximately $5.55 billion acquisition of Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. from Ball Corporation, which became its Space & Mission Systems business in the United States.
Data retrieved 9 September 2026.
- Company fundamentals
- Corporate linkage & group structures
- Digitized company financials
- Firmographics — websites, social profiles, revenue and employee estimates
Shareholders
2
BAE Systems plc is a widely held FTSE 100 company listed on the London Stock Exchange, with no controlling shareholder. Under the UK’s Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules (DTR5), only holders whose voting rights cross the 3% notification threshold are required to disclose their positions via TR-1 filings. As of 28 November 2025 the company had 3,167,192,304 ordinary shares in issue, of which 164,676,209 were held in treasury, giving 3,002,516,095 total voting rights. The most recent notified threshold-crossing identified, from GIC Private Limited on 20 August 2026, recorded that holder’s voting rights falling below 3%, indicating that at that date no single shareholder held a publicly disclosed stake at or above the 3% threshold. Separately, the shareholder data synced to this profile, dated 10 August 2026, lists two disclosed institutional holdings managed by Capital Group: Income Fund of America and EuroPacific Growth Fund. The reported percentage figures for these two holdings could not be independently corroborated against regulatory TR-1 notifications and are presented here as recorded in that dataset rather than as confirmed current ownership percentages.
Data availability
Shareholder information for BAE Systems plc is classified as Major shareholders only: as a UK premium-listed company with a dispersed institutional shareholder base, only holders whose voting rights cross the 3% DTR5 threshold are publicly notified, and no shareholder currently discloses a stake above that threshold.
Sources
- Investegate — TR-1: Notification of major holdings, BAE Systems plc / GIC Private Limited, 20 August 2026, retrieved 9 September 2026
- Company regulatory announcement — Total Voting Rights, BAE Systems plc, 28 November 2025, retrieved 9 September 2026
- Shareholder data synced to this profile, dated 10 August 2026
Registry feed — rows exactly as filed with Companies House, including entries the profile above does not cover.
| Shareholder | Type | Holding | Source Document |
|---|---|---|---|
| Income Fund of America | 19.1% | Companies House | |
| EuroPacific Growth Fund-EUPAC Fund | 6.7% | Companies House |
Officers
70
BAE Systems plc’s board comprised 13 directors as of research date, per the company’s official board of directors page: Cressida Hogg CBE as Chair (appointed November 2022, Chair since May 2023); Dr Charles Woodburn CBE as Group Chief Executive Officer (appointed July 2017); Brad Greve as Chief Financial Officer (appointed April 2020); and Tom Arseneault as President and Chief Executive Officer of BAE Systems, Inc. (appointed April 2020). The remaining nine directors serve in non-executive roles: Nicole Piasecki, Senior Independent Director since January 2024; Nick Anderson; Crystal E. Ashby; Angus Cockburn, who chairs the Audit and Risk Committee; Dr Jane Griffiths, who chairs the Environmental, Social and Governance Committee; Michelle Hinchliffe, appointed September 2026; Dr Ewan Kirk; Stephen Pearce; and John Pettigrew CBE, appointed February 2026. Companies House separately records 91 officer appointments in the company’s filing history since its 1979 incorporation, reflecting extensive board turnover over more than four decades; only a partial sample of these historical records, rather than the full filing history, is held in the data synced to this profile. Nationality is not disclosed in the sources reviewed for this profile and should not be inferred from a director’s name, career history or correspondence address.
Recent officer changes
- John Pettigrew CBE — appointed Non-Executive Director, 23 February 2026.
- Michelle Hinchliffe — appointed Non-Executive Director, September 2026.
Data availability
Officer information for BAE Systems plc is classified as Partial: the underlying data synced to this profile includes only a small sample of the company’s 91 historical Companies House officer records, though current board composition has been independently verified against the company’s official website. Nationality is not disclosed in either source.
Sources
- BAE Systems plc — Board of Directors, official company website, retrieved 9 September 2026
- Companies House — BAE SYSTEMS PLC, officers, data synced 11 August 2026
Registry feed — rows exactly as filed with Companies House, including entries the profile above does not cover.
Group Structure
BAE Systems plc is not a subsidiary of any other company. As a London Stock Exchange-listed FTSE 100 company with a dispersed institutional shareholder base, it is the ultimate parent of its own corporate group, and no parent company was identified in this research. Corporate-linkage data synced to this profile (verified 11 August 2026) records 40 direct subsidiaries and 180 group entities in total across 24 countries, led in the United Kingdom by entities such as BAE Systems (Holdings) Limited and MES Holdco Limited, and in the United States by BAE Systems Holdings Inc., the parent of the group’s large US operating subsidiary, BAE Systems, Inc. The group also includes significant entities in Sweden (BAE Systems AB, encompassing the Bofors and Hägglunds land-systems businesses), Saudi Arabia, Australia, Norway, India and other jurisdictions matching BAE Systems plc’s air, maritime, land, electronic systems and digital intelligence businesses. Ownership percentages within the group are not disclosed in the synced corporate-linkage data. Information reflects the corporate-linkage data synced to this profile and reputable reporting of a recent group acquisition, retrieved 9 September 2026.
Verified corporate relationships
| Entity | Country | Registration number | Relationship | Ownership | Status | Information date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BAE Systems Holdings Inc. | United States | VA 2416636 | Direct subsidiary | Ownership percentage not disclosed | Active | 11 August 2026 |
| BAE Systems, Inc. | United States | VA 2777144 | Indirect subsidiary | Ownership percentage not disclosed | Active | 11 August 2026 |
| BAE Systems Space & Mission Systems Inc. | United States | CO 2521785 | Indirect subsidiary | Ownership percentage not disclosed | Active | 11 August 2026 |
| BAE Systems (Holdings) Limited | United Kingdom | 05265414 | Direct subsidiary | Ownership percentage not disclosed | Active | 11 August 2026 |
| BAE Systems AB | Sweden | 5567026116 | Direct subsidiary | Ownership percentage not disclosed | Active | 11 August 2026 |
| BAE Systems Applied Intelligence Limited | United Kingdom | 01337451 | Indirect subsidiary | Ownership percentage not disclosed | Active | 11 August 2026 |
Recent structural changes
- Acquisition of Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. from Ball Corporation for approximately $5.55 billion, completed 27 March 2025; the acquired business became BAE Systems Space & Mission Systems Inc.
Data availability
Group-structure information for BAE Systems plc is classified as Full at the subsidiary level: corporate-linkage data synced to this profile identifies a large number of subsidiary entities across many jurisdictions, though individual ownership percentages within the group are not disclosed in that data and are stated here as not disclosed rather than assumed.
Sources
- Corporate-linkage data synced to this profile, verified 11 August 2026
- BAE Systems — “BAE Systems completes acquisition of Ball Aerospace”, official company website, retrieved 9 September 2026
- Companies House — BAE SYSTEMS PLC, company overview, retrieved 9 September 2026
Registry feed — rows exactly as filed with Companies House, including entries the profile above does not cover.
BAE SYSTEMS PLC
United Kingdom
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Frequently Asked Questions
What does BAE SYSTEMS PLC do?
BAE Systems plc is a UK-registered public limited company (company number 01470151) providing defence, aerospace and security products and services, including combat aircraft, submarines, surface warships, armoured vehicles and electronic systems, listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Who owns BAE SYSTEMS PLC?
BAE Systems plc has no controlling shareholder; as of the most recent TR-1 notification in August 2026, no single holder disclosed voting rights at or above the 3% DTR5 threshold, reflecting a widely dispersed institutional shareholder base.
Who is BAE SYSTEMS PLC's UBO (Ultimate Beneficial Owner)?
Every shareholder recorded for BAE SYSTEMS PLC is itself a company rather than a natural person, so no Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO) is identified at this level; establishing one would require tracing the ownership of each shareholding company in turn.
What is BAE SYSTEMS PLC's company registration number?
BAE SYSTEMS PLC's registration number is 01470151, filed with Companies House in United Kingdom. Its current status on the register is active.
Is BAE SYSTEMS PLC still an active company?
BAE SYSTEMS PLC's status on Companies House is listed as active.
When was BAE SYSTEMS PLC incorporated?
BAE SYSTEMS PLC was incorporated on 31 December 1979, according to Companies House.
What is BAE SYSTEMS PLC's registered address?
The registered address on file for BAE SYSTEMS PLC is London, United Kingdom.
What legal structure is BAE SYSTEMS PLC registered as?
BAE SYSTEMS PLC is registered as a Public Limited Company in United Kingdom.
What is BAE SYSTEMS PLC's revenue?
For the year ended 31 December 2025, BAE Systems plc reported record group sales of £30.7 billion, up 10% year-on-year, with underlying EBIT of £3.3 billion.
Is BAE SYSTEMS PLC listed on a stock exchange?
BAE Systems plc's ordinary shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange under ticker BA. (ISIN GB0002634946) and the company is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index.
Who are the officers/directors of BAE SYSTEMS PLC?
BAE Systems plc's board comprised 13 directors as of September 2026, led by Chair Cressida Hogg CBE and Group Chief Executive Officer Dr Charles Woodburn CBE.
Does BAE SYSTEMS PLC have a parent company or subsidiaries?
BAE Systems plc is the ultimate parent of its own corporate group with no identified parent company; corporate-linkage data records around 180 group entities across 24 countries, including its major US subsidiary BAE Systems, Inc.
Can Zavia monitor changes to BAE SYSTEMS PLC's ownership over time?
This profile reflects a point-in-time snapshot from Companies House. Zavia's monitoring API can track changes to BAE SYSTEMS PLC's registered shareholders, officers, and group structure going forward, flagging updates as they're filed rather than requiring a manual recheck.
Can I access BAE SYSTEMS PLC's data through an API?
Yes. Zavia's API connects directly to official government ownership registries across 195 countries and territories, including United Kingdom, so records like BAE SYSTEMS PLC's registration, shareholder, UBO, and group-structure data can be queried programmatically instead of viewed one page at a time.
Where does this company information come from, and how current is it?
This record is sourced directly from Companies House and was last synced on 11 August 2026.