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.
30-517: BAeSEMA acquired Dowty-Sema in 1992, another naval systems joint venture between Dowty Group and Sema. 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. On November 11, 1998, BAe acquired Sema's interest in
60-475: A vertically integrated company which The Scotsman described as "[a combination of British Aerospace's] contracting and platform-building skills with Marconi's coveted electronics systems capability". for example combining the manufacturer of the Eurofighter with the company that provided many of the aircraft's electronic systems; British Aerospace was MES' largest customer. In contrast, DASA's response to
90-550: A key to his appointment. GEC favours forging a national "champion" defence group with BAe to compete with the giant US organisations". When GEC put MES up for sale on 22 December 1998, BAE abandoned the DASA merger in favour of purchasing its British rival. The merger of British Aerospace and MES was announced on 19 January 1999. Evans stated that in 2004 that his fear was that an American defence contractor would acquire MES and challenge both British Aerospace and DASA. The merger created
120-418: A major American defence contractor, for US$ 1.4 billion. The 1997 merger of American corporations Boeing and McDonnell Douglas , which followed the forming of Lockheed Martin , the world's largest defence contractor in 1995, increased the pressure on European defence companies to consolidate. In June 1997, British Aerospace Defence managing director John Weston commented "Europe... is supporting three times
150-414: A major restructuring of the new group, integrating the previously separate companies into five product groups; Aircraft, Space Systems, Defense and Civil Systems/Propulsion. Several companies continued to exist under their own names but, by 1992, most (including MBB and TST) of the former entities had been fully integrated. During 1992, DASA's helicopter portfolio, which had been largely inherited from MBB,
180-522: A part of Leonardo ). The Marconi Company had been formed by Guglielmo Marconi in 1897 in Britain, originally under the name of The Wireless Telegraph & Signal Company. Following GEC's acquisition of Marconi as part of English Electric in 1968, the Marconi brand was used for its defence businesses, e.g. Marconi Space & Defence Systems (MSDS), Marconi Underwater Systems Ltd (MUSL). When it
210-555: Is a partial list: DaimlerChrysler Aerospace DASA (officially Deutsche AeroSpace AG , later Daimler-Benz AeroSpace AG , then DaimlerChrysler AeroSpace AG ) was a German aerospace manufacturer. It was created during 1989 as the aerospace subsidiary arm of Daimler-Benz AG (later DaimlerChrysler ) from 1989. The company acquired rival manufacturer Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB) that same year, integrating it along with its other aerospace interests, MTU München , and Dornier Flugzeugwerke , by 1992. The company's existence
240-484: The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS). Following the merger, the former DaimlerChrysler Aerospace division initially operated as EADS Deutschland GmbH ; following the rebranding of EADS as Airbus Group , the division was formally rebranded as Airbus Defence and Space GmbH . Immediately upon its creation, DASA was associated with several ongoing aircraft programmes, including
270-544: The Tornado's central fuselage on behalf of all international customers while the other partners manufactured the rest of the airframe. DASA's subsidiary MTU also held a 40 per cent stake in the Tornado's engine manufacturer Turbo-Union , a separate multinational company formed to develop and build the RB199 engines for the aircraft. Production of the Tornado was terminated during 1998; the final batch of aircraft being produced
300-546: The assets of its former Dornier division to American aviation company Fairchild Aircraft , leading to the creation of Fairchild Dornier . Furthermore, that same year, DASA announced that all manufacturing operations for the Dornier 228 would be transferred to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) of India ; two years later, activity on the German production line was permanently terminated. These moves were intended to concentrate
330-561: The breakdown of the merger discussion was to merge with Aérospatiale to create the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company ( EADS ), a horizontal integration . EADS has since considered a merger with Thales to create a "fully rounded" company. While MES was responsible for the majority of GEC's defence sales other GEC companies achieved defence related sales, principally GEC Alsthom , GEC-Plessey Telecommunications (GPT) and GEC Plessey Semiconductors. This
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#1732787194591360-407: The company became a major defence contractor . GEC's major defence related acquisitions included Associated Electrical Industries in 1967, English Electric Company (including Marconi as a subsidiary) in 1968, Yarrow Shipbuilders in 1985, parts of Ferranti 's defence business in 1990, Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering in 1995 and Kvaerner Govan in 1999. In June 1998, MES acquired Tracor ,
390-438: 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). Marconi Electronic Systems Marconi Electronic Systems ( MES ), or GEC-Marconi as it
420-453: The company from the struggling Fokker. At one stage, DASA had agreed to provide a rescue deal for the company, but this had been contingent upon a commitment by the Dutch government. The poor state of the company's finances heavily contributed to DASA's decision to depart the regional aircraft market entirely. According, during June 1996, it was announced that DASA had sold the majority of
450-461: The company's resources on the production of the larger Dornier 328 airliner, as well as to respond to Dornier's wider financial difficulties. On 1 January 1995, the company announced that it had changed its name to Daimler-Benz Aerospace AG . As a consequence of the peace dividend of the 1990s following the dissolution of the Soviet Union , industry-wide consolidation increased. Following
480-510: The early 1990s, DASA became involved as a strategic partner of the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker , the latter reportedly being interested in expanding its footprint in the regional aircraft sector. During 1993, it was announced that DASA purchased a 40 per cent stake in Fokker. However, by 1995, both Fokker and DASA were experiencing considerable financial difficulties, largely as a result of
510-417: The extremely competitive nature of the regional market during this era. Fokker was forced to reduce production of its Fokker 50 airliner; and embark upon a major restructuring programme, including efforts to renegotiate prices with its suppliers, in what was viewed by aerospace publication Flight International as a last-ditch effort to save the company. During January 1996, DASA's board decided to distance
540-492: The merger of parent company Daimler Benz with American car manufacturer Chrysler Corporation during 1998, the company was renamed DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG on 7 November 1998. Management and politicians alike remained keen to form partnerships with other European companies in the aerospace and defense sectors. On 10 July 2000, it was announced that DASA (minus MTU) had formally merged with Aérospatiale-Matra of France and Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA (CASA) of Spain to form
570-515: The multinational Eurofighter Typhoon fighter programme, the Panavia Tornado fighter-bomber, along with various other initiatives and partnerships. The company's work on the Tornado was largely conducted via Panavia Aircraft GmbH , a tri-national consortium consisting of British Aerospace (previously British Aircraft Corporation ), Aeritalia of Italy, and DASA, having inherited MBB's involvement. Under this arrangement, DASA manufactured
600-542: The number of contractors on less than half the budget of the U.S.". European governments wished to see the merger of their defence manufacturers into a single entity, a European Aerospace and Defence Company. As early as 1995, British Aerospace and the German aerospace and defence company DaimlerChrysler Aerospace (DASA) were said to be keen to create a transnational aerospace and defence company. Merger discussions began between British Aerospace and DASA in July 1998. A merger
630-577: The number of units being ordered by each contributing nations. However, following order cuts during the peace dividend following the collapse of the Soviet Union , the programme's workshare split was renegotiated as 43% for EADS MAS in Germany and Spain; 37.5% for BAE Systems in the UK; and 19.5% for Alenia. On 27 March 1994, the maiden flight of the Eurofighter prototype took place in Bavaria , flown by DASA chief test pilot Peter Weger. Production
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#1732787194591660-692: Was a market leader in the field, operating four principal manufacturing plants in Europe ( Marignane and La Courneuve in France, and Donauwörth and Kassel in Germany), plus 32 subsidiaries and participants around the world, including those in Brisbane , Australia, Albacete , Spain and Grand Prairie , USA. As of that same year, in excess of 12,000 helicopters built by the company were in service with over 3,000 customers across roughly 150 countries. During
690-456: Was agreed between British Aerospace chairman Richard Evans and DASA CEO Jürgen Schrempp in December 1998. GEC was also under pressure to participate in defence industry consolidation. Reporting the appointment of George Simpson as GEC managing director in 1996, The Independent had said "some analysts believe that Mr Simpson's inside knowledge of BAe, a long-rumoured GEC bid target, was
720-465: Was bought by General Electric, MES represented the pinnacle of GEC's defence businesses which had a heritage of almost 100 years. GEC's history of military products dates back to World War I with its contribution to the war effort then including radios and bulbs. World War II consolidated this position with the company involved in many important technological advances, most notably radar . Between 1945 and GEC's demerger of its defence business in 1999,
750-721: Was delivered to the German Air Force , with all successive deliveries being at the Tranche 2 standard or above. Owing to its expertise with both German and NATO aircraft, DaimlerChrysler Aerospace provided various upgrade packages for a wide range of aircraft, such as the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II and the Boeing E-3 Sentry . During 1993, MiG Aircraft Support GmbH was established with DaimlerChrysler Aerospace holding
780-586: Was delivered to the Royal Saudi Air Force , who had ordered a total of 96 IDS Tornados. DASA was also responsible for the mid life upgrade (MLU) of the German fleet of Panavia Tornados , similar to the RAF's GR4 upgrade. During the 1990s, the Eurofighter proceeded towards the mass production phase, DASA holding a workshare stake in the programme. The workshare split had originally been agreed at 33/33/21/13 (United Kingdom/Germany/Italy/Spain) based on
810-435: Was divided into three tranches, these being a production/funding distinction without directly implying an incremental increase in capability with each tranche. Tranche 3 was later divided into A and B parts. In September 1998, contracts were signed for production of 148 Tranche 1 aircraft and procurement of long lead-time items for Tranche 2 aircraft. In March 2008, the final aircraft out of Tranche 1
840-502: Was merged with the helicopter division of French manufacturer Aérospatiale to form Eurocopter . The Bo 108 , DASA's in-development helicopter derived from MBB's highly successful Bo 105 , was one of the assets transferred to the new company; it was launched as the Eurocopter EC135 during the early 1990s to considerable similar commercial success. By 2014, Eurocopter, which was subsequently rebranded as Airbus Helicopters ,
870-657: Was relatively brief due to the peace dividend of the 1990s having motivated industry-wide consolidation. During July 2000, DASA merged with Aérospatiale-Matra of France and Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA (CASA) of Spain to form EADS , which has since rebranded itself as Airbus Group . DASA (from Deutsche Aerospace Aktiengesellschaft ) was founded on 19 May 1989 by the merger of Daimler-Benz's aerospace interests, MTU München , and Dornier Flugzeugwerke . During December 1989, Daimler-Benz acquired rival German aerospace consortium Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB) and merged it into DASA. During March 1990, Daimler-Benz initiated
900-504: Was until 1998, was the defence arm of General Electric Company (GEC). It was split off from GEC and bought by British Aerospace (BAe) on 30 November 1999 to form BAE Systems . GEC then renamed itself Marconi plc . MES exists today as BAE Systems Electronics Limited , a subsidiary of BAE Systems, but the assets were rearranged elsewhere within that company. MES-related businesses include BAE Systems Submarine Solutions , BAE Systems Surface Ships , BAE Systems Insyte and Selex ES (now
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