The Ukraine war has revived the threat of conventional conflicts for developed nations. That has boosted the defence sector, in which Airbus participates. But the interest the Toulouse-based group is reportedly taking in the cyber security and big data arm of Atos is incongruous. Cyber warfare is a different activity to the physical sort.

The French software group is the kind of vendor that acquirers like: distressed. But there is a further incongruity in talk of Airbus buying a minority stake in the Evidian division of Atos. It would hardly be material to the aerospace group.

Defence and space activity makes up just over a quarter of Airbus’s top line, though its separate helicopters unit has defence exposure, too. Within defence and space, the software businesses — within connected intelligence — make up an even smaller part.