MBDA

From Free net encyclopedia

Image:MBDA.jpg MBDA is a European arms company which manufactures missiles and is the result of the 2002 merger of Aérospatiale-Matra Missiles (of EADS), Alenia Marconi Systems' missile divisions and Matra BAe Dynamics. As of 2003 the company had 10,000 employees and in 2005 an annual turnover of €3 bn.

1 History
2 Product range
3 Locations
4 Shareholders
5 External links

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History

MBDA was created at a time of widespread consolidation in the European defence industry. However significant consolidation of European missile companies began as early 1996 with the merger of parts of Matra Defense and BAe Dynamics to form Matra BAe Dynamics. Matra BAe Dynamics represented half of Matra Hautes Technologies' missile business, the other half was Matra Missiles which became Aérospatiale-Matra Missiles when Matra merged with Aérospatiale in 1999. In 2000 Aérospatiale-Matra became part of EADS.

In 1998 GEC-Marconi Radar and Defence Systems and Alenia Difesa merged to form Alenia Marconi Systems, this combined the missile and radar activities of those companies. Also in 1998 GEC-Marconi (renamed Marconi Electronic Systems) was sold to British Aerospace and became part of the merged company, BAE Systems. These events were followed in 2002 by the mergers to create MBDA.

In June 2005 an agreement was signed between MBDA and LFK to merge it into MBDA (LFK was a unit of EADS Defence and Security Systems). This was completed on March 1 2006, with LFK becoming MBDA Deutschland.

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