LandEuro 2025: Leonardo DRS sees opportunity for BMS, C-UAS offerings in Europe

Pictured is the US version of Leonardo DRS' Mounted Family of Computer Systems (MFoCS) battle management system. (Leonardo DRS)

Leonardo DRS has made international business expansion a strategic initiative in response to growing defence budgets around the world, Bill Guyan, senior vice-president for business development and president for international business for Leonardo DRS, told Janes on 14 July ahead of the Association of the United States Army's (AUSA's) LandEuro 2025 exhibition in Wiesbaden, Germany, on 16–17 July.

“I think that there's also US policy changes encouraging more burden sharing with our allies and that's also worked to help to accelerate their spending,” Guyan said. “We're seeing an international defence market, almost all regions, growing faster than the US market,” he added.

The company's approach resembles that of the traditional US national strategy of working with allies and partners, Guyan said. “It's partners that make us strong as a company and so as a mid-tier defence company, as we look at the burgeoning international marketplace and all of those opportunities out there, these are opportunities for us to find partners and in many cases enable them to act as the prime going after programmes in their home country,” he said.

As countries spend more on defence, “they also want more and more domestic capacity. They want more organic capabilities”, Guyan explained. To compete for these increased opportunities, “we look to partner with nations and, if we can, enable a local [company] to act as the prime rather than to go into the market and try to take that role on”, he added.

BMS