Newly amalgamated defence electronics company targets US homeland security
A little over a month after its formation through the amalgamation of European defence electronics companies BAE Systems Avionics and Galileo Avionica, the managing director of UK-based Selex Sensors & Airborne Systems (S&AS) has outlined his vision for the company’s pursuit of new business in Europe, the Middle East and the USA.
Formed on 29 April as a joint venture owned 75% by Italy’s Finmeccanica and 25% by BAE of the UK, Selex S&AS forms part of a new brand that also includes Selex Communications and Selex Sistemi Integrati.
The group is widely tipped to become a wholly Italian-owned enterprise within the next two years, with BAE expected to sell its remaining stake to Finmeccanica. If confirmed, this strategy will place a second key UK capability under Italian control, following Finmeccanica’s acquisition of a 100% interest in helicopter manufacturer AgustaWestland. But with security assurances already in place ahead of any future transaction, Selex S&AS managing director Nick Franks says: “As far as the UK is concerned, it’s business as usual.”
Headquartered in Luton, Bedfordshire and with additional facilities in Italy, the UK and the USA, Selex S&AS will benefit from the recent rebranding, believes Franks. “For the last two years, calling us avionics was wrong,” he says, adding that the new company’s activities will place “more emphasis on sensors and integration”.
Targeted growth areas include supplying the US homeland security and network-centric warfare sectors, says Franks, who believes Finmeccanica brings “a longer- term view of penetrating the US market” than BAE in the defence electronics sector. Franks also hopes to access the commercial aircraft countermeasures business under an existing agreement with Northrop Grumman.
Work also continues on existing products, which include the Eurofighter Typhoon’s Captor fire-control radar, the helicopter integrated defensive aids system selected by Greece, Kuwait and the UK and promoted as an upgrade to Saudi Arabia’s Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopters, and lasers for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s electro-optical targeting system.
CRAIG HOYLE/LUTON
Source: Flight International
