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The company was formed on April 29, 1977 from British Aircraft Corporation, Hawker Siddeley Aviation, Hawker Siddeley Dynamics and Scottish Aviation.
In 1979, joined Airbus, Britain having withdrawn support for the consortium in April 1969. In January 1981 BAe was converted to a plc with the government selling 51.57% of its shares the following month. The British government sold its remaining shares in 1985, maintaining a £1 golden share (giving the government veto power over company policy.) On June 1 BAe delivered the first Panavia Tornado IDS to the Royal Air Force and of August 9August 9 is the 221st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (222nd in leap years), with 144 days remaining. Events 48 BC Roman Civil War: Battle of Pharsalus Julius Caesar decisively defeats Pompey at Pharsalus and Pompey flees to Egypt. 378 Battle of the first Tornado Air Defence VariantThe RAF Tornado F3 is a fighter/interceptor version of the Panavia Tornado in service with the Royal Air Force. It is a long ranged twin engine aircraft, originally designed to intercept Soviet bombers as they came in from the east to strike the United Ki (ADV) rolls off the production line.
On September 26September 26 is the 269th day of the year (270th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 96 days remaining. Events 1580 Sir Francis Drake circumnavigates the globe 1687 The Parthenon in Athens is partially destroyed after an explosion caused by the 19851985 is a common year starting on Tuesday. Events January events January 1 Creation of the Internet's Domain Name System. January 17 British Telecom annouces they are going to abolish the famous red telephone boxes. January 23 A debate in the House of Lor the British and Saudi ArabiaThe Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a country on the Arabian Peninsula. It borders Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, with the Persian Gulf to its north-east and the Red Sea to its west. Al-Mamlakah al-'Arabiyah as-Sa'udiyahn governments signed the Al YamamahAl Yamamah ("The Dove") was a series of massive UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia, paid for over many years by up to 600,000 barrels of oil per day to the United Kingdom government. The Al Yamamah Project was initiated in September 1985. The deal has never be contract, with British Aerospace as prime contractor. The contracts, extended in the 1990s and never fully detailed, involved the supply of Tornado strike and air defence aircraft, HawkThe BAE Hawk is an advanced jet trainer manufactured by BAE SYSTEMS and used by the Royal Air Force and other countries. History In 1964 the Royal Air Force specified a requirement for a new initial jet trainer to replace the Folland Gnat. The SEPECAT Jag trainer jets, Rapier missileRapier FSC (Field Standard C) is a surface-to-air missile to combat supersonic, low level, high manoeuvrability craft. It was developed by MBDA (previously Matra BAe Dynamics) and is in service with the British Army and the RAF. There is also a export ver systems, infrastructure works and naval vessels. The Al Yamamah deals are valued at anything up to £20Bn and still continue to provide a large percentage of BAE SYSTEMS' profits.
In June 1986 after protracted negotiations, delays and false starts the Eurofighter partner nations, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK establish Eurofighter GmbH for the development of the aircraft.
April 1987 saw the beginning of some significant investments beginning with Royal Ordnance. Rover Group plc, a 30% share in Hutchison Telecommunications, Heckler und Koch and various defence contractors were acquired between 1987 and 1991. In June 1991 Euroflag was established, the consortium formed to develop the European Future Large Aircraft (FLA,) which became the Airbus A400M. British Aerospace Corporate Jets Ltd. was formed in February 1992. In September the same year Avro RJ Regional Jets is formed to produce the Avro RJ series, the development of the BAe 146.
In 1991, following large expenditure and a recession, saw its share price fall below 100p for the first time. Only with the installment of a new chairman, Richard Evans, and an emergency rights issue saved the company from bankruptcy. It is interesting to note that GEC, later to sell its defence interests to BAe, came close to acquiring BAe at this time.
In January 1 1992 British Aerospace Defence Ltd began trading as a wholly-owned subsidiary of BAe. The three previously separate defence companies now operate as divisions of that subsidiary;
Following the largest British corporate write-down in 1992, BAe set about divesting some non-core interests. In June 1993 the BAe Corporate Jets subsidiary was sold to Raytheon but BAe continues to make the wings and various fuselage sections for the Hawker jet.
In March 1994 the Rover Group was sold to BMW and the first of the Eurofighter development aircraft (DA) flies from Manching, Germany. This is followed by BAe's DA2 on April 6. In July British Aerospace Space Systems division is sold to Matra Marconi Space. In October BAe Dynamics and GEC-Marconi form a joint venture company, UKAMS Ltd, the UK partner in the Principal Anti-Air Missile System (PAAMS) consortium. PAAMS was to equip the Horizon CNGF, later the Type 45. Eurosam ( Thomson-CSF / Aerospatiale/ Alenia) formed the rest of the consortium.
In June 1995 Saab Military Aircraft and BAe sign an agreement for the joint development and marketing of the JAS 39 Gripen export version. BAe designed an improved wing, which they manufactured and eventually produced around 45% of export airframes.
In May 1996 BAe and Matra Defense agreed to form a missiles joint venture to be called Matra BAe Dynamics. In June 1997 BAe joined the Lockheed Martin X-35 Joint Strike Fighter team. Marconi joins the competing Boeing X-32 team. In March 1998 BAe sells 16.11% of Orange plc, retaining 5%. The Orange shareholding is a legacy of the 30% stake in Hutchinson. In April BAe completes its purchase of Siemens Plessey, the defence systems business, from Siemens AG. Following its involvement in the Saab Gripen programme BAe acquires a 35% stake in Saab AB. In July UKAMS becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of BAe Dynamics.
In January 1999 British Aerospace agrees the merger of itself with GEC's defence arm, Marconi Electronic Systems. The company, initially called "New British Aerospace" is officially merged on November 30, 1999, now known as BAE SYSTEMS.