Jump to content

British Aerospace

From Alfawiki


"BAe" redirects here. For Successor to British Aerospace, see BAE Systems.

British Aerospace plc
Company type
IndustryAerospace
Predecessor
Founded29 April 1977; 49 years ago (1977-04-29)
DefunctTemplate:End date and age
FateMerged with Marconi Electronic Systems
SuccessorBAE Systems
Headquarters
Farnborough, Hampshire
,
United Kingdom
ProductsAircraft
Subsidiaries
WebsiteTemplate:Web archive

British Aerospace plc (abbreviated as BAe) was a UK-based manufacturer specializing in aircraft, munitions, and defence systems, established in 1977. Its corporate headquarters were situated at Warwick House within the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire.[1] In 1999, it acquired Marconi Electronic Systems, the defence electronics and naval shipbuilding division of the General Electric Company, leading to the creation of BAE Systems.

Establishment and privatisation

The origins of the company trace back to the Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act 1977, which mandated the nationalisation and consolidation of British Aircraft Corporation, Hawker Siddeley Aviation, Hawker Siddeley Dynamics, and Scottish Aviation. The newly formed organisation was officially established as a statutory corporation in the United Kingdom on 29 April 1977.

Template:Infobox UK legislation

Following the enactment of the British Aerospace Act 1980 (c. 26), on 1 January, the statutory corporation was converted into a limited company. It subsequently re-registered as a public limited company (plc) under the title "British Aerospace Public Limited Company" on 2 January 1981.[2] The privatisation process unfolded in two principal stages: initially in February 1981, when 51.6% of shares were offered to the public. This offering was oversubscribed by a factor of 3.5, with share prices closing at a premium of 14% above the issue price on its first day.[3] The second phase took place in May 1985, disposing of the remaining 48.4% shares; this round saw subscriptions exceed demand by over five times, with shares closing up by 11% on their initial trading day.[3] Throughout this period, the UK Government retained a £1 golden share, granting it veto authority over any foreign attempts to control either the company's board or its ownership.[4]

Programmes

File:German Panavia Tornado.JPG
A German Air Force Tornado IDS in flight, 2007

British Aerospace assumed responsibility for several ongoing development projects inherited from its predecessor companies. Among these was Scottish Aviation’s initiative to create a 19-seat turboprop airliner, an enhanced variant of the Handley Page Jetstream. Following the prototype's maiden flight in March 1980, BAe commenced production of the Jetstream 31. Concurrently, BAe continued manufacturing the HS 125 business jet, the Harrier VTOL fighter, and the HS 748 turboprop airliner. Production of the Trident jet airliner also persisted briefly. Additionally, limited production runs of the BAC One-Eleven jet airliner, the Strikemaster two-seat military jet trainer/attack aircraft, and the iconic supersonic Concorde continued under BAe’s oversight.

On 29 July 1976, less than a year before BAe was officially established, the contract for manufacturing the initial series of the Panavia Tornado, a sophisticated nuclear-capable fighter-bomber, was signed.[5] This aircraft was developed and produced through a multinational consortium, Panavia Aircraft GmbH, in which BAe played a significant role among other partners.[6][7] The production Tornado made its first flight on 10 July 1979.[8] Deliveries to the RAF and German Air Force occurred on 5 and 6 June 1979 respectively.[9] The first Tornado delivered to Italy followed on 25 September 1981.[10]

The Tornado entered large-scale production, with the milestone 500th unit delivered to West Germany on 19 December 1987.[11] Production concluded in 1998 after completing the final batch destined for the Royal Saudi Air Force, which had ordered a total of 96 IDS Tornados.[12] Aviation historian Jon Lake remarked that "The Trinational Panavia Consortium produced just short of 1,000 Tornados, making it one of the most successful postwar bomber programs".[13]

In 1978, BAe reintroduced the BAe 146, a regional jet designed for short-haul routes initially developed by Hawker Siddeley. This aircraft was promoted as a quiet and fuel-efficient turbofan-powered regional airliner capable of replacing older turboprop feeder planes.[14] The first completed unit took flight in 1982.[15][16] Upon entering service in the following year, it was acclaimed as "the world's quietest jetliner".[17] The original BAe146 was succeeded in 1993 by an upgraded version called the Avro RJ series; this update included replacing Lycoming's ALF502 turbofan engines with more powerful LF507 engines housed in redesigned nacelles and featured a modernized cockpit equipped with EFIS systems replacing older analogue instruments.[18] Production of Avro RJ ended with its last four units delivered by late 2003; a total of 173 aircraft were built between 1993 and that year.[19]

Grey jet aircraft with black radome and large engine inlet hovering with undercarriage extended. It is obscuring another identical jet in the distance. Near the bottom of the photograph, taken out at sea, is the horizon
A 800 NAS Sea Harrier FRS1 from HMS Illustrious painted in low-visibility colors post-Falklands War

BAe advanced several variants within the Harrier family during this period. In 1978, the Royal Navy took delivery of its first batch of twenty-four BAe Sea Harriers.[20][21] Three years later, these jets were declared operational and deployed aboard both HMS Invincible—the lead ship of her class—and HMS Hermes.[22] Their pivotal role during the Falklands War in1982 led to several operational insights that informed an upgrade program initiated in1984; this resulted in the development of the Sea Harrier FRS.2 (later designated as FA2). The prototype's first flight occurred in September1988 and a contract for twenty-nine upgraded units was signed that December.[23] The Sea Harrier FA2 incorporated the advanced Blue Vixen radar system, regarded as one of the world’s most sophisticated pulse Doppler radars at that time.[24]

In August1981, BAe entered into a memorandum of understanding with American manufacturer McDonnell Douglas concerning production of the McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II.[25] Under this agreement BAe functioned primarily as a subcontractor rather than an equal partner and undertook approximately forty percent of man-hour work on airframe production.[25] Manufacturing occurred at McDonnell Douglas’ facilities near St Louis in Missouri as well as at BAe’s Kingston and Dunsfold plants in Surrey.[26] The RAF variant—designated as the BAe Harrier II—featured distinct avionics configurations, armaments and equipment; notably its GR5 wing incorporated stainless steel leading edges that altered its flexural properties compared to the AV-8B.[27] By December1989,the RAF declared its first squadron equipped with this model operational.[28]

In1979 BAe officially became a partner in Airbus by acquiring a twentieth share in this multinational aircraft consortium,[29][30] reversing an earlier UK government decision made ten years prior to withdraw from Airbus participation. Initially receiving little market interest,[31] orders for Airbus' inaugural model—the A300—picked up significantly throughout the late1970s.[32]Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag

See also

Lua error in mw.title.lua at line 359: bad argument #2 to 'title.new' (unrecognized namespace name 'Portal').

Citations

  1. ↑ "Sites." British Aerospace. Retrieved 31 August 2011. "British Aerospace plc Warwick House, Farnborough Aerospace Centre, Farnborough, Hampshire GU14 6YU."
  2. ↑ Certificate of Incorporation on Re-Registration as Public Limited Company
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  4. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  5. ↑ Long, Wellington. "Swing-Wing Wonder Weapon Is Going Into Production." Ludington Daily News,24 August 1976.
  6. ↑ Segell 1997, p. 124.
  7. ↑ Morris, Joe Alex Jr. "Messerschmitt Back in Business". St Petersburg Times. 30 April 1969.
  8. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  9. ↑ Middleton, Drew. "Military Analysis: West Germany Is Modernizing Military Forces." New York Times, 23 September 1979. Retrieved 23 September 1979.
  10. ↑ Parsons, Gary. "TTTEnd of an era." airsceneuk.org.uk. Retrieved 19 January 2011.
  11. ↑ Taylor 1987, p. 58.
  12. ↑ Jackson et al. 1998, p. 241.
  13. ↑ Lake 2002, pp. 446, 455.
  14. ↑ Hewish 1982, p. 857.
  15. ↑ Velupillai 1981, p. 1244.
  16. ↑ Hewish 1982, p. 858.
  17. ↑ "Coming: Smaller Jetliners." Popular Mechanics, September 1984. 161(9), p. 98.
  18. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  19. ↑ "Commercial Aircraft Directory – Avro RJ-85ER." Flight Global, Retrieved 14 November 2012.
  20. ↑ Bull 2004, p.120.
  21. ↑ Grove 1987, pp.319–320.
  22. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  23. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).Template:Fix/category[dead link]
  24. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Wilson2000,p. 26.
  26. ↑ Gaines1985,p. 148.
  27. ↑ "Aerospace, Volume20." Royal Aeronautical Society,1993,p.14.
  28. ↑ Nordeen2006,p.68.
  29. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  30. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  31. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  32. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).

Cite error: <ref> tag with name "SP-H-01" defined in <references> is not used in prior text.

Cite error: <ref> tag with name "SP-H-02" defined in <references> is not used in prior text.

Bibliography

  • Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)..
  • Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)..
  • Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)..
  • Hewish, Mark. "Britain's First New Airliner for 18 years."Template:Fix/category[permanent dead link] New Scientist, 94(1311), 24 June 1982. pp. 857–859.
  • Jackson, Paul, Kenneth Munson, Lindsay Peacock and John W. R. Taylor, eds. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1997–98. London: Jane's Information Group, 1998. ISBN 0-7106-1788-7.
  • Lake, Jon. Great Book of Bombers. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Zenith Imprint, 2002. ISBN 0-7603-1347-4.
  • Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)..
  • Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)..
  • Velupillai, David. "British Aerospace 146 Described." Flight International, 2 May 1981. pp. 1243–1253.
  • Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)..

External links

Template:BAE Systems evolution Template:BAE aircraft Template:Aerospace industry in the United Kingdom Lua error in Module:Authority_control at line 159: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).

Retrieved from "https://www.alfawiki.org/index.php?title=British_Aerospace&oldid=77269"