US Army HADES award (means for BBD)From Desjardins chart of the week:
We take a look at BBD’s defence opportunity following the US Army HADES award.
The plan is for BBD to hand over the first aircraft in October, which will then undergo systems integration. This should be added to BBD’s backlog in 2H, which when combined with its 200+ options, gives us greater comfort that it can achieve the coveted 1x book-to-bill level. However, given the service had already awarded BBD a contract in December for one aircraft (with an option to buy two more), it is more likely that the HADES bookings will come in smaller, progressive annual increments of ~2–3 aircraft. Although the service plans to field only ~14 aircraft, militaries are typically heavy users of bizjets and tend to rack up significantly more hours than private users, which should eventually translate into attractive aftermarket opportunities for BBD. This US award should also create future NATO demand for BBD jets, as the program could generate foreign military sales in theatres like Europe or the Indo-Pacific.