By Guy Taylor BAE Systems order backlog reached record levels in 2023, as defence spending boomed in the wake of the war in Ukraine and rising geopolitical tensions globally. Britain’s premier defence contractor’s orrder backlog hit £69.8bn for the 12 months to 31 December, driven by an order intake of £37.7bn. It followed a number of significant contract awards, including for the ‘AUKUS’ submarine program and Dreadnought nuclear deterrent submarines. Sales of its military technology, which includes anything from nuclear submarines to Eurofighter-Typhoon jets, reached £25.3bn, up 9 per cent an…