MBDA appoints Airbus executive Jean-Brice Dumont as new CEO

PARIS — MBDA, Europe’s largest missile maker, appointed Airbus Defence and Space executive Jean-Brice Dumont as its new chief executive officer effective Nov. 1 to succeed Eric Béranger, who has led the maker of the Meteor air-to-air missile and Aster air-defense missile since June 2019.

The executives will start a handover process in October to ensure “a seamless transition,” MBDA said on Wednesday. The company didn’t provide a reason for the departure of Béranger, who has overseen seven years of transition during which MBDA nearly doubled its sales to €5.8 billion (US$6.6 billion) in 2025 and more than doubled its order book to a record €44.4 billion.

Dumont already sits on the MBDA supervisory board as a representative for Airbus, which owns 37.5% of the missile maker alongside BAE Systems with an equal stake and Leonardo with 25%. At Airbus Defence and Space, he has been head of air power since January 2024, and before that was head of military air systems from July 2021.

Dumont “will continue MBDA’s transformation journey and build on MBDA’s unique model to meet the challenges ahead,” the company said.

Airbus executive Jean-Brice Dumont speaks at a company event on Sept. 13, 2023, in Seville, Spain. (Francisco J. Olmo/Europa Press via Getty Images)

European governments including France have been pushing MBDA to accelerate a ramp-up in missile production, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Houthi attacks in the Red Sea highlighted Europe’s limited missile stockpiles and production capacity. Béranger said in March the company would increase investments for 2026-2030 to €5 billion from a planned €2.5 billion for the 2025-2029 period.

“I am honored to join MBDA at a moment where the group stands at the center of the defense of Europe and its allies,” Dumont said in the statement. “I would like to warmly thank Eric for handing over a group that has been deeply transformed, a group stronger and ready for the challenges ahead.”

MBDA says it already doubled missile production between 2023 and the end of 2025, and Béranger said in March overall missile output will rise 40% this year, a “very significant increase.” The company’s products include the Aster interceptors used in the SAMP/T air-defense systems, the Meteor missile, the Scalp/Storm Shadow cruise missile and the Exocet anti-ship weapon.

“When I joined in 2019, none of us could have imagined what we would be faced with,” Béranger said in the statement. “We stepped up to every challenge and MBDA is now more essential than ever to global peace and security.”

The company said Dumont brings extensive international experience in aerospace and defense after serving in various Airbus executive committees for more than 14 years.

He joined Eurocopter, the predecessor to Airbus Helicopters, in 2004 as an engineer on the NH90 program, followed by various executive roles in the Airbus helicopter and commercial aircraft businesses.

Dumont is a licensed French Army aviation pilot, and started his career at the Directorate General for Armament in 1996, working on the Tiger and Super Puma helicpter programs. He is a graduate of France’s elite École Polytechnique and of the ISEA-SUPAERO aerospace-engineering school.

MBDA is frequently cited by policymakers and industry analyst as an example of successful European defense cooperation. The company’s multinational structure allows France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom to share costs, expertise and industrial capacity, while also allowing the countries to preserve sovereign capabilities in MBDA’s local units.

Under Béranger, the company has “reshaped its portfolio to provide European armed forces and their allies with sovereign solutions, adapted to today and tomorrow’s threats,” MBDA said.

MBDA Chairman Simon Barnes said the board wishes Béranger “a promising new chapter,” while also wishing Dumont “full success in his new position.”

Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.

巴黎——欧洲最大的导弹制造商MBDA任命空中客车防务与航天公司高管让-布里斯·杜蒙为新任首席执行官，自11月1日起生效，接替自2019年6月以来一直领导“流星”空空导弹和“紫菀”防空导弹制造商的埃里克·贝朗热。

MBDA周三表示，高管团队将于10月启动交接程序，以确保“平稳过渡”。该公司并未说明贝朗热离职的原因。贝朗热领导MBDA七年，带领公司完成了转型，在此期间，MBDA的销售额几乎翻了一番，预计到2025年将达到58亿欧元（约合66亿美元），订单量也翻了一番多，创下444亿欧元的历史新高。

杜蒙目前已作为空客的代表担任MBDA监事会成员，空客持有这家导弹制造商37.5%的股份，BAE系统公司持有相同股份，莱昂纳多公司持有25%的股份。自2024年1月起，他担任空客防务与航天公司空军力量负责人，此前自2021年7月起担任军用航空系统负责人。

该公司表示，杜蒙“将继续MBDA的转型之旅，并在MBDA独特模式的基础上迎接未来的挑战”。

2023年9月13日，空客公司高管让-布里斯·杜蒙在西班牙塞维利亚出席公司活动并发表讲话。（图片来源：Francisco J. Olmo/Europa Press via Getty Images）

在俄罗斯入侵乌克兰和胡塞武装在红海发动袭击后，欧洲导弹库存和生产能力的不足凸显出来，包括法国在内的欧洲各国政府一直在敦促MBDA加快导弹生产。贝朗热在3月份表示，该公司将把2026-2030年的投资额从原计划的25亿欧元增加到50亿欧元。

“我很荣幸能在MBDA集团处于欧洲及其盟国防务核心地位之际加入该集团，”杜蒙在声明中表示。“我衷心感谢埃里克将一个已经彻底变革、更加强大且已做好迎接未来挑战准备的集团交接给我。”

MBDA公司表示，其导弹产量已在2023年至2025年底期间翻了一番。贝朗热在3月份表示，今年导弹总产量将增长40%，这是一个“非常显著的增长”。该公司的产品包括用于SAMP/T防空系统的“紫菀”（Aster）拦截导弹、“流星”（Meteor）导弹、“风暴阴影”（Storm Shadow）巡航导弹和“飞鱼”（Exocet）反舰导弹。

“2019年我加入公司时，我们谁也无法预料到会面临怎样的挑战，”贝朗热在声明中表示。“我们迎难而上，如今MBDA对全球和平与安全比以往任何时候都更加重要。”

该公司表示，杜蒙曾在空客公司多个执行委员会任职超过 14 年，拥有丰富的航空航天和国防领域的国际经验。

2004 年，他加入空客直升机的前身欧洲直升机公司，担任 NH90 项目的工程师，随后在空客直升机和商用飞机业务部门担任各种管理职务。

杜蒙是一名持有执照的法国陆军航空兵飞行员，1996年加入法国军备总局，参与了虎式和超级美洲狮直升机项目。他毕业于法国顶尖学府巴黎综合理工学院和ISEA-SUPAERO航空航天工程学院。

MBDA经常被政策制定者和行业分析师视为欧洲防务合作成功的典范。该公司跨国结构使法国、德国、意大利和英国能够共享成本、专业知识和工业产能，同时也允许各国在MBDA的本地子公司保留其自主能力。

MBDA表示，在贝朗热的领导下，公司“重新调整了产品组合，为欧洲武装部队及其盟友提供适应当前和未来威胁的自主解决方案”。

MBDA 董事长西蒙·巴恩斯表示，董事会祝愿贝朗热“开启充满希望的新篇章”，同时也祝愿杜蒙“在新职位上取得圆满成功”。

鲁迪·鲁伊滕贝格是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者。他的职业生涯始于彭博新闻社，拥有报道科技、大宗商品市场和政治方面的经验。