Aurora Labs Locks in Three-Year Deal With Missile Giant MBDA to Target European Defence
Aurora Labs formalises Teaming Agreement with global defence powerhouse MBDA
Aurora Labs Limited (ASX: A3D) has entered into a formal Teaming Agreement with MBDA, one of the world’s most strategically significant defence organisations and the only European group capable of designing and producing missiles across all three armed services. The Agreement expands upon an initial Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed on 15 December 2025, elevating the relationship from an assessment phase into a structured, three-year collaboration framework. The near-term focus is the European defence market, with Australia to follow as a subsequent opportunity.
No binding financial commitments have been made at this stage.
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Who is MBDA and why does this partnership matter?
MBDA is a multi-national defence group specialising in the development and production of complex weapons systems and next-generation missile platforms. Established through the consolidation of missile businesses from Europe’s largest defence contractors, the group is jointly owned by Airbus (37.5%), BAE Systems (37.5%), and Leonardo (25%). Its ownership structure reflects a level of institutional credibility that few defence partners can match.
Operating across France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom, MBDA supports the national security objectives of partner nations and their allies. The group holds a unique position in the European defence sector as the only organisation with the integrated capability to design and manufacture complex weapons across all land, sea, and air armed services.
For a small ASX-listed company to progress from an initial MOU to a formal Teaming Agreement with an organisation of this scale carries meaningful strategic weight. In a defence context, a Teaming Agreement moves the relationship beyond exploratory assessment into a structured collaboration with defined governance, regular engagement across technical and commercial workstreams, and a shared framework for identifying and advancing project opportunities. It represents a more substantive commitment from both parties than a non-binding MOU.
The following table summarises MBDA’s scale and standing as a global defence organisation:
| Metric | Figure | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 Revenue | €4.9Bn | Annual reported revenue for the MBDA group |
| Record Order Intake (2025) | €13.2Bn | Record order intake recorded in the 2025 financial year |
| Order Backlog | €44Bn | Total value of committed but unfulfilled orders |
| Employees | ~20,000 | Across France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom |
| Armed Forces Partners | 90+ | Armed forces worldwide that MBDA partners with |
From MOU to Teaming Agreement: what changes for Aurora?
The transition from MOU to Teaming Agreement reflects a meaningful shift in the nature of the collaboration. Where the original MOU focused on assessing the suitability of A3D’s 3D-printed propulsion technologies for potential integration into MBDA’s platforms, the new Agreement establishes a structured framework for that work to be actively pursued.
Under the Agreement, both parties will work together to explore the design, development, manufacture, and integration of A3D’s 3D-printed propulsion technologies for use within MBDA’s next-generation weapon platforms. A governance framework has been established, with regular meetings scheduled to cover technical and commercial workstreams. The parties will also explore potential funding mechanisms, including jointly funded activities and other commercial arrangements, though no binding financial commitment has been made at this stage.
For Aurora, the Agreement supports the company’s stated strategic priority of expanding its presence in international defence markets. Being progressed to a formal teaming structure by an organisation of MBDA’s calibre serves as a significant validation of A3D’s technical capability. It signals that Aurora’s additive manufacturing and propulsion technologies are considered relevant at the highest levels of global defence procurement.
Rebekah Letheby, Managing Director, Aurora Labs
“This Agreement with MBDA represents a significant strategic milestone for Aurora Labs. To progress our relationship with one of the world’s most respected and capable defence organisations with a near term focus on expanding into Europe, as well as pursuing opportunities in Australia – it demonstrates both the technical capability and strategic relevance of our 3D-printed propulsion technologies.”
Key terms of the Teaming Agreement
- Scope: Design, development, manufacture, and integration of A3D’s 3D-printed propulsion technologies for use within MBDA’s next-generation weapon platforms
- Governance: Regular meetings covering technical and commercial workstreams
- Funding: Exploration of jointly funded activities and other commercial arrangements, with no binding financial commitment at this stage
- Term: Three years from the date of execution
- Geographic focus: European defence market (near-term), Australia (subsequent)
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Aurora’s path forward in international defence markets
The Teaming Agreement positions Aurora to embed its propulsion technologies within high-value, mission-critical defence programmes at an international level. The dual geographic focus reflects both the immediate opportunity that elevated European defence spending presents and the longer-term potential of Aurora’s home market in Australia, where sovereign defence capability development continues to attract significant investment and policy attention.
Identification of additional project opportunities is an active workstream under the Agreement, meaning the scope of collaboration is expected to broaden as both parties progress their engagement. Aurora seeks to leverage the structured framework established by this Agreement to advance its propulsion technologies through MBDA’s development pipeline and into operational programmes.
More broadly, the partnership reflects a wider trend in global defence: the growing demand for advanced manufacturing solutions capable of producing complex, precision components at speed. Aurora’s additive manufacturing capability, applied to propulsion systems for unmanned aerial and weapons platforms, positions the company to contribute to sovereign capability objectives across multiple allied nations as defence procurement priorities continue to shift toward next-generation technologies.
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