Tom Arseneault, president and CEO of BAE Systems Inc., said the U.S. business is well positioned to benefit from the U.S. defense budget increase and support the Golden Dome missile defense shield project.
DOD’s FY 2026 Budget Request
In late June, senior Department of Defense officials and military leaders released DOD’s proposed $961.6 billion fiscal year 2026 budget, which includes $113.3 billion in mandatory funding through congressional reconciliation.
The department’s budget request includes $25 billion for the proposed Golden Dome for America missile defense initiative; $60 billion for the nuclear triad and nuclear modernization efforts; $3.1 billion for continued production of the F-15EX Eagle II fighter jet; and $2.5 billion for the expansion of missile and munitions production.
DOD’s Proposed Budget Backs Several BAE Defense Programs
At an earnings call Wednesday, Arseneault, a three-time Wash100 awardee, said the Pentagon’s budget request supports several programs and technologies where the British defense contractor’s U.S. arm plays a role.
“We have equities in a number of the programs that are actually mentioned there, our electronic warfare, for example, on the F-15EX, which got a sizable increase. Again, Compass Call, this is an electronic attack aircraft and so additional budget there,” he said.
“There’s definitely been an uptick in demand requests for rough order of magnitude sizing around various ramp rates for munitions in the U.S. … We have good exposure across the portfolio there,” Arseneault stated. “We support the nuclear deterrent in a number of different ways, services into the ground-based strategic deterrent as well as participation on the B-21 program.”
Advancing Golden Dome Through BAE’s Contracts With Space Force
During the call, Arseneault mentioned contracts with the U.S. Space Force that could support the development of the Golden Dome project, including the $1.2 billion medium Earth orbit Resilient Missile Warning and Tracking Epoch 2 satellite constellation and the potential $151 million Future Operationally Resilient Ground Evolution, or FORGE, Command and Control ground system.
Under the FORGE C2 program, he noted that BAE will help the Space Force modernize its existing ground systems to manage missile warning satellites, which he said will be a key part of Golden Dome.
“We also play into the effector side of Golden Dome with munitions and interceptors like the THAAD, the Lockheed Martin program. That’s the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system. We do the seeker for the interceptors there,” said the chief executive of BAE’s U.S. arm.
“And while the specifics of the Golden Dome architecture requirements are just starting to play out, we are already, we believe, well positioned,” he stated.
Arseneault cited the Trump administration’s plans to use existing technologies to accelerate the Golden Dome development initiative.
“You’ll have read in the press around the administration’s intent to use as much of the existing technology as possible with speed being a key parameter here and our ability to get a Golden Dome up and running here in the next handful of years,” the BAE official noted. “And so written large we are well positioned for the budget increase ahead and look forward to the opportunity to leverage that.”
