Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public in 1867, acquired more businesses, and began branching out into military hardware and shipbuilding.
British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer that was formed in 1977. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. It purchased Marconi Electronic Systems, the defence electronics and naval shipbuilding subsidiary of the General Electric Company, in 1999 to form BAE Systems.
General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and fifth largest in the United States by total sales. The company is a Fortune 100 company, and was ranked No. 94 in 2022.
BAE Systems plc is a British multinational aerospace, defence and information security company, based in London, England. It is the largest manufacturer in Britain as of 2017. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe and the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenues. Its largest operations are in the United Kingdom and in the United States, where its BAE Systems Inc. subsidiary is one of the six largest suppliers to the US Department of Defense. Its next biggest markets are Saudi Arabia, then Australia; other major markets include Canada, Japan, India, Turkey, Qatar, Oman and Sweden. The company was formed on 30 November 1999 by the £7.7 billion purchase of and merger of Marconi Electronic Systems (MES), the defence electronics and naval shipbuilding subsidiary of the General Electric Company plc (GEC), with British Aerospace, an aircraft, munitions and naval systems manufacturer.
The Combat Vehicle 90 (CV90) is a family of Swedish tracked armoured combat vehicles designed by the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV), Hägglund & Söner and Bofors during the mid-1980s to early 1990s, before entering service in Sweden in the mid-1990s. The CV90 platform design has continuously evolved from the Mk 0 to the current Mk IV with technological advances and changing battlefield requirements.
The Bradley Fighting Vehicle (BFV) is a tracked armored fighting vehicle of the United States developed by FMC Corporation and now manufactured by BAE Systems Land & Armaments, formerly United Defense. It is named for U.S. General Omar Bradley.
United Defense Industries (UDI) was an American defense contractor which became part of BAE Systems Land & Armaments after being acquired by BAE Systems in 2005. The company produced combat vehicles, artillery, naval guns, missile launchers and precision munitions.
FV103 Spartan is a tracked armoured personnel carrier. It was developed for the British Army as the APC variant of the Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) family. The vehicle can carry up to seven personnel, including three crew members. Armed with a single machine gun, it is almost indistinguishable from the FV102 Striker in external appearance.
BAE Systems Inc. is an American subsidiary of multinational defense, security, and aerospace company BAE Systems plc. The American subsidiary operates under a Special Security Agreement which allows it to work on some of the most sensitive United States defense programs despite its foreign ownership. It is incorporated in Delaware. It employs approximately 35,000 workers within U.S. borders and several thousand more in Israel, South Africa, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Major business lines of BAE Systems Inc. include electronic warfare, sensing and communications equipment; armored vehicles, artillery systems; naval guns and naval ship repair; and cybersecurity and intelligence services.
Tracor, Inc. was a major North American defense electronics contractor which was acquired by Marconi Electronic Systems (MES), a subsidiary of General Electric Company plc, in 1998. Following the purchase of MES by British Aerospace in November 1999 to form BAE Systems, Tracor became BAE Systems Integrated Defense Solutions. Following a 2005 reorganisation, the company became BAE Systems Sensor Integration, part of Electronics and Integrated Solutions.
The Alvis Stormer is a military armoured vehicle manufactured by the British company Alvis Vickers, now BAE Systems Land & Armaments.
The L21A1 RARDEN is a British 30 mm autocannon used as a combat vehicle weapon. The Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment (RARDE) and the Royal Small Arms Factory (RSAF), were part of the Ministry of Defence, at the time.
BAE Systems AB is subsidiary holding company for the Swedish assets of BAE Systems Land & Armaments, whose ultimate parent is the British defence contractor BAE Systems.
Vickers plc was the remainder of Vickers-Armstrongs after the nationalisation of three of its four operating groups: aviation, shipbuilding and steel. It was purchased by Rolls-Royce plc in 1999, and the Vickers company name became defunct in 2003 as Rolls renamed the company Vinters Engineering.
The Bomb Royal Ordnance Augmented Charge (BROACH) is a multi-stage warhead developed by BAE Systems Global Combat Systems Munitions, Thales Missile Electronics and QinetiQ.
Alvis PLC was created when United Scientific Holdings plc acquired the Alvis division of the nationalised vehicle manufacturer British Leyland in 1981. United Scientific maintained its own name until 1992 when the group was renamed Alvis plc. Alvis acquired the armoured vehicle business of the Swedish engineering company Hägglund & Söner in 1997 and the armoured vehicle business of GKN in 1998.
Armor Holdings, Inc. was an American manufacturer of military, law enforcement, and personnel safety equipment. It was acquired by BAE Systems on July 31, 2007 and renamed BAE Systems Mobility & Protection Systems. The divisions have been reorganised within BAE Systems Land and Armaments.
List of abbreviations, acronyms and initials related to military subjects such as modern armour, artillery, infantry, and weapons, along with their definitions.
Royal Ordnance plc was formed on 2 January 1985 as a public corporation, owning the majority of what until then were the remaining United Kingdom government-owned Royal Ordnance Factories which manufactured explosives, ammunition, small arms including the Lee–Enfield rifle, guns and military vehicles such as tanks. It owned some 16 factories; and employed about 19,000 staff.
Royal Ordnance Factory (ROF) Leeds, first opened as a munitions factory in December 1915 and opened as an ROF in January 1936, was one of a number of Royal Ordnance Factories created at the start of the Second World War.
