Thales Air Defence

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Thales Air Defence Limited
TypePrivate
Industry Defence
Headquarters Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
ProductsMissiles
Number of employees
492 (2017)
Parent Thales Group

Thales Air Defence Limited (TADL), formerly Shorts Missile Systems (SMS), is a defence contractor based in Belfast, Northern Ireland, producing short range air defence missiles.

Contents

Shorts Missile Systems was established as a joint venture between Shorts' owners Bombardier and Thomson-CSF in 1993. In 2000 Thomson-CSF became the sole owner. In the same year Thomson-CSF was renamed Thales Group and in 2001 Shorts Missile Systems was renamed Thales Air Defence Limited.

TADL products have been deployed by 56 armed forces around the world. The company employs around 492 people in Northern Ireland. [1] The company also operates a remote facility in rural County Down, between Ballynahinch and Downpatrick, where missiles are tested and stored. [2]

History

Short Brothers' missile division was formed in 1952. [3] [4] In 1993, this became Shorts Missile Systems (SMS) a joint venture between Shorts' owners Bombardier and Thomson-CSF. [5] In 2000 Thomson-CSF bought Bombardier's 50% share to become the sole owner. [6] In the same year Thomson-CSF was renamed Thales Group; [7] consequently in 2001 Shorts Missile Systems was renamed Thales Air Defence Limited. [8]

The then Shorts Missile Systems was a partner in Raytheon Company's Future Medium Range Air-Air Missile (FMRAAM) project, which was to replace the AIM-120 AMRAAM missile used by European air forces. In May 2000 the UK selected the MBDA Meteor to fulfil the requirement.

Products

The NLAW is a lightweight anti-tank guided missile system that is assembled by Thales. [9]
Javelin is a man-portable surface-to-air missile and is being replaced by Starstreak.
A High Velocity Missile (HVM) used in the air defence role. Used in many roles with man-portable, attack helicopter and vehicle mounted variants.
Built by Thales under licence from the United States for the Ministry of Defence. Hellfire is designed to defeat tanks and other individual targets while minimizing the exposure of the launch vehicle to enemy fire.
Ordered by the MoD as the FASGW(L) missile on 5 April 2011 to be operated by the Royal Navy's new Lynx Wildcat helicopter. [10]

Historical

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Starstreak</span> British man-portable/vehicle mounted surface-to-air missile

Starstreak is a British short-range surface-to-air missile that can be used as a man-portable air-defence system (MANPADS) or used in heavier systems. It is manufactured by Thales Air Defence in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is also known as Starstreak HVM. After launch, the missile accelerates to more than Mach 4, making it the fastest short-range surface-to-air missile in existence. It then launches three laser beam-riding submunitions, increasing the likelihood of a successful hit on the target. Starstreak has been in service with the British Army since 1997. In 2012 Thales relaunched the system as ForceSHIELD.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Javelin (surface-to-air missile)</span> British man-portable surface-to-air missile

Javelin is a British man-portable surface-to-air missile, formerly used by the British Army and Canadian Army. It can be fired from the shoulder, or from a dedicated launcher named the Lightweight Multiple Launcher (LML), that carries three rounds, and can be vehicle mounted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FGM-148 Javelin</span> American-made portable fire-and-forget anti-tank missile

The FGM-148 Javelin, or Advanced Anti-Tank Weapon System-Medium (AAWS-M), is an American-made man-portable anti-tank system in service since 1996, and continuously upgraded. It replaced the M47 Dragon anti-tank missile in US service. Its fire-and-forget design uses automatic infrared guidance that allows the user to seek cover immediately after launch, in contrast to wire-guided systems, like the system used by the Dragon, which require a user to guide the weapon throughout the engagement. The Javelin's high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) warhead can defeat modern tanks by top attack, hitting them from above, where their armor is thinnest, and is also useful against fortifications in a direct attack flight.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">NLAW</span> 2009 disposable anti-tank missile system

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Starburst (missile)</span> Man-portable air-defense system

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martlet (missile)</span> Laser‐guided battlefield missile (ASM, SAM and SSM)

Martlet is a lightweight air-to-surface, air-to-air, surface-to-air, and surface-to-surface missile developed by Thales Air Defence for the United Kingdom. It is named after a mythical bird from English heraldry that never roosts, the martlet.

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References

  1. "Economic Impact of Thales in Northern Ireland" (PDF). www.thalesgroup.com. July 2019. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  2. Stinson, James (23 September 2011). "Defence firm's pre-tax losses up". The Irish News.
  3. Simpson, John (4 July 2008). "How the defence specialist is finding new markets". belfasttelegraph. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  4. Donne, Michael (16 December 1986). "Short in £225m Missile Deal". The Financial Times.
  5. Bellamy, Christopher (2 March 1993). "Short joins French on missile". The Independent.
  6. "BBC News | NORTHERN IRELAND | French takeover at NI missile firm". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  7. "Thomson-CSF changes name to Thales". www.aerospaceonline.com. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  8. "Our UK locations". Thales Group. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  9. "£229m deal for anti-tank weapons to safeguard Thales jobs in east Belfast" . Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  10. "First production contract for Thales's Lightweight Multi-role Missile announced". Thales. 5 April 2011. Archived from the original on 4 September 2011. Retrieved 27 December 2011. Thales