Royal Ordnance
| Royal Ordnance plc | |
|---|---|
| legal form |
Public company until 1987 Privatized |
| founding | 1985 |
| resolution | 2004 |
| Seat | London |
| Branch | Weapons manufacturer |
Royal Ordnance plc was formed as a Public Limited Company on January 2, 1985 to bring together the arms manufacturing division of the Royal Ordnance Factories ( ROFs ). Production comprised explosives , ammunition , small arms such as the Lee-Enfield rifle , cannons and military vehicles such as tanks in 16 factories with around 19,000 employees. Today it operates as BAE Systems Global Combat Systems Munitions .
history
The Royal Ordnance Factories (ROFs) date back to 1560 with the establishment of the Royal Gunpowder Factory (RGPF) in Waltham Abbey, Essex . The Royal Small Arms Factory (RSAF) in Enfield Lock and the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich were later added. At the time of the Second World War, around 300,000 people were employed at a total of 40 ROFs. The number of employees fell dramatically in the post-war period. Royal Ordnance plc , which was founded in 1985 for privatization purposes , was bought by British Aerospace (BAe) in April 1987, which was renamed BAE Systems in 1999 . The name Royal Ordnance continued to be used, the locations traded as Royal Ordnance or later as RO Defense .
In 1991 Royal Ordnance took over the German company Heckler und Koch . Because Royal Ordnance had not yet sold any handguns to Germany and therefore no addition of market shares was to be expected, the Cartel Office allowed the takeover. Following complaints from victims' relatives against firearms manufacturers in the USA, BAE unsuccessfully tried to sell the acquired subsidiary in the late 1990s. The reason given by BAE was that they wanted to concentrate on higher-quality weapon systems. Heckler & Koch Maschinen- und Anlagenbau GmbH was then sold to the newly founded Schwäbische Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH in an asset deal in 1995 .
In 2004, BAE Systems acquired the Alvis Group and brought its Vickers military division together with Royal Ordnance plc to BAE Land Systems . The name Royal Ordnance has been dropped. Today the name of the BAE Systems business unit is Global Combat Systems Munitions .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b globalsecurity.org: Royal Ordnance Factories / Royal Ordnance plc (Engl.)
- ↑ Jürgen Grässlin: Hide when they shoot. Munich 2003, p. 401.
- ↑ Wirtschaftswoche, June 22, 2009: The deadliest company in Germany. Retrieved August 31, 2012.
- ^ Die Welt, November 23, 2002: Heckler & Koch comes back into German hands
- ^ Swabian machine tools , accessed on September 6, 2012.
