BAeSEMA

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BAeSEMA was a naval technology joint venture between British Aerospace and the French Sema Group. The company was formed in 1991 and dissolved in November 1998 when BAe purchased SEMA's 50% share.

British Aerospace Aerospace and defense company

British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. Formed in 1977, in 1999 it purchased Marconi Electronic Systems, the defence electronics and naval shipbuilding subsidiary of the General Electric Company plc, to form BAE Systems.

Sema Group

Sema Group plc was an Anglo-French IT services company. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It was acquired by Schlumberger in 2001.

Contents

BAeSEMA acquired Dowty-Sema in 1992, another naval systems joint venture between Dowty Group and Sema.

Capabilities

Type 23 frigate class of frigate built for the United Kingdoms Royal Navy

The Type 23 frigate or Duke class is a class of frigates built for the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. The ships are named after British Dukes, thus leading to the class being commonly known as the Duke class. The first Type 23, HMS Norfolk, was commissioned in 1989, and the sixteenth, HMS St Albans was commissioned in June 2002. They form the core of the Royal Navy's destroyer and frigate fleet and serve alongside the Type 45 destroyers. Originally designed for anti-submarine warfare in the North Atlantic, the Royal Navy's Type 23 frigates have proven their versatility in warfighting, peacekeeping and maritime security operations around the globe. Thirteen Type 23 frigates remain in service with the Royal Navy, with three vessels having been sold to the Chilean Navy.

<i>Vanguard</i>-class submarine class of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines

The Vanguard class is a class of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) in service with the Royal Navy. The class was introduced in 1994 as part of the Trident nuclear programme, and includes four boats: Vanguard, Victorious, Vigilant and Vengeance. They were built between 1986 and 1999 at Barrow-in-Furness by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering, which is now owned by BAE Systems. All four boats are based at HM Naval Base Clyde , 40 km (25 mi) west of Glasgow, Scotland.

Ballistic missile submarine Submarine able to launch ballistic missiles

A ballistic missile submarine ("Boomer") is a submarine capable of deploying submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) with nuclear warheads. The United States Navy's hull classification symbols for ballistic missile submarines are SSB and SSBN – the SS denotes submarine, the B denotes ballistic missile, and the N denotes that the submarine is nuclear powered. These submarines became a major weapon system in the Cold War because of their nuclear deterrence capability. They can fire missiles thousands of kilometers from their targets, and acoustic quieting makes them difficult to detect, thus making them a survivable deterrent in the event of a first strike and a key element of the mutual assured destruction policy of nuclear deterrence. Their deployment has been dominated by the United States and the Soviet Union / Russia, with smaller numbers in service with France, the United Kingdom, China, and India.

History

From BAe's perspective BAeSEMA was an attempt to increase its capabilities as a naval prime contractor. This was not entirely successful for two reasons:

BAeSEMA's major competitor in the UK naval systems market was GEC-Marconi through its Ferranti Naval Systems and Plessey Naval Systems businesses.

Marconi Electronic Systems (MES), or GEC-Marconi as it was until 1998, was the defence arm of The General Electric Company (GEC). It was demerged from GEC and acquired by British Aerospace (BAe) on 30 November 1999 to form BAE Systems. GEC then renamed itself Marconi plc.

Ferranti British electrical engineering company

Ferranti or Ferranti International plc was a UK electrical engineering and equipment firm that operated for over a century from 1885 until it went bankrupt in 1993. The company was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

The Plessey Company plc was a British-based international electronics, defence and telecommunications company. It originated in 1917, growing and diversifying into electronics. It expanded after the Second World War by acquisition of companies and formed overseas companies.

On November 11, 1998 BAe acquired Sema's interest in the company for £77 million and merged it into British Aerospace Defence Ltd. BAe's naval capabilities increased dramatically in the next year, its acquisition of Marconi Electronic Systems to form BAE Systems saw it take control of Marconi Marine's shipyards; VSEL (Barrow-in-Furness), Govan (Glasgow) and YSL (Scotstoun).

BAE Systems plc is a British multinational defence, security, and aerospace company. Its headquarters are in London in the United Kingdom with operations worldwide. The company is the largest defence contractor in Europe and among the world's largest defence companies; it was ranked as the third-largest based on applicable 2017 revenues. Its largest operations are in the United Kingdom and United States, where its BAE Systems Inc. subsidiary is one of the six largest suppliers to the US Department of Defense. Other major markets include Australia, India, and Saudi Arabia, which account for about 20% of BAE's overall sales. It is the biggest manufacturer in Britain. The company was formed on 30 November 1999 by the £7.7 billion merger of two British companies: Marconi Electronic Systems (MES) – the defence electronics and naval shipbuilding subsidiary of the General Electric Company plc (GEC) – and British Aerospace (BAe) – an aircraft, munitions and naval systems manufacturer.

Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering shipbuilding company based at Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria in northwest England

Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering, Ltd (VSEL) was a shipbuilding company based at Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria in northwest England that built warships, civilian ships, submarines and armaments. The company was historically the Naval Construction Works of Vickers Armstrongs and has a heritage of building large naval warships and armaments. Through a complicated history the company's shipbuilding division is now BAE Systems Submarine Solutions and the armaments division is now part of BAE Systems Land & Armaments.

Govan district and former burgh in the City of Glasgow, Scotland

Govan is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of south-west City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated 2.5 miles (4.0 km) west of Glasgow city centre, on the south bank of the River Clyde, opposite the mouth of the River Kelvin and the district of Partick. Historically it was part of the County of Lanark.

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The General Electric Company, or GEC, was a major UK-based industrial conglomerate involved in consumer and defence electronics, communications, and engineering. The company was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

Matra Marconi Space (MMS) was a Franco-British aerospace company.

Alenia Marconi Systems (AMS) was a major European integrated defence electronics company and an equal shares joint venture between BAE Systems and Finmeccanica until its dissolution on 3 May 2005.

The Marconi Company was a British telecommunications and engineering company that did business under that name from 1963 to 1987. It was derived from earlier variations in the name and incorporation, spanning a period from its inception in 1897 until 2006, during which time it underwent numerous changes, mergers and acquisitions. The company was founded by the Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi and began as the Wireless Telegraph & Signal Company. The company was a pioneer of wireless long distance communication and mass media broadcasting, eventually becoming one of the UK's most successful manufacturing companies. In 1999, its defence manufacturing division, Marconi Electronic Systems, merged with British Aerospace to form BAE Systems. In 2006, extreme financial difficulties led to the collapse of the remaining company, with the bulk of the business acquired by the Swedish telecommunications company, Ericsson.

British Shipbuilders Corporation (BS) was a public corporation that owned and managed the shipbuilding industry in Great Britain from 1977 through the 1980s. The British Shipbuilders Corporation headquarters was at Benton House in Newcastle upon Tyne, England.

Siemens Plessey was the name given to the Plessey assets acquired by Siemens in 1989.

Marconi Communications business enterprise

Marconi Communications, the former telecommunications arm of the General Electric Company plc (GEC), was founded in August 1998 through the amalgamation of GEC Plessey Telecommunications (GPT) with other GEC subsidiaries: Marconi SpA, GEC Hong Kong, and ATC South Africa.

GEC Plessey Telecommunications (GPT) was founded in 1988 as a joint venture between GEC and the British electronics, defence and telecommunications company Plessey. A joint holding company of GEC and the German conglomerate Siemens AG acquired Plessey a year later, and GPT was converted into a 60/40 GEC/Siemens joint venture.

Tracor 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.

BAE Systems Marine Ltd. was the shipbuilding subsidiary of BAE Systems, formed in 1999, which manufactured the full range of naval ships; nuclear submarines, frigates, destroyers, amphibious ships.

SELEX Sistemi Integrati

SELEX Sistemi Integrati S.p.A. was an aerospace, defence and security-related electronics manufacturing company headquartered in Rome, Italy and a wholly owned subsidiary of Finmeccanica. It designed and developed systems for homeland security; systems and radar sensors for air defence, battlefield management, naval warfare, coastal and maritime surveillance; air traffic control; and turn-key airport solutions. The company had around 4,500 employees. On 1 January 2013, it merged with its sister companies SELEX Galileo and SELEX Elsag to form Selex ES.

UKAMS Ltd. is the UK partner of the EUROPAAMS consortium, the developer of the Principal Anti Air Missile System (PAAMS), a naval air defence weapon system.

CAP Scientific

CAP Scientific Ltd was a British defence software company, and was part of CAP ] Group plc. In 1988, CAP Group merged with the French firm Sema-Metra SA in 1988 as Sema Group plc. In 1991 Sema Group put most of its defence operations into joint venture with British Aerospace called BAeSEMA, which British Aerospace bought out in 1998. Parts of the former CAP Scientific are now BAE Systems Insyte).

Dowty Group was a leading British manufacturer of aircraft equipment. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index, but was acquired by TI Group in 1992.

References

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