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Cobham history
Cobham company history timeline
Sir Alan Cobham formed Flight Refuelling Ltd on October 29 1934 to focus his efforts on its wider application.
Companies established in 1934
"Gas Station In The Sky" 1947 article on FLR's first in-flight refueling system
1948: FRL was the first contractor to join the Berlin airlift.
FRL also assisted the United States Air Force in the historic around-the-world flight of a Boeing B-50A in February 1949.
Carleton Life Support was founded in 1951 by Bendix Aviation.
"F.R. Equipment Speeds Refuelling!" a 1951 advert for Flight Refuelling's pressure refuelling system as used on the de Havilland Comet
Sir Alan Cobham bought out his company's other shareholders in 1952.
Flight Refuelling went public in 1955, taking the name Flight Refuelling (Holdings) Ltd.
Michael Cobham was a trained barrister who had joined the company in 1955.
Sir Alan Cobham died in 1973.
Turnover reached £19 million in 1980.
In 1982 Cobham’s air-to-air refuelling system was about to see its toughest test and this would make it centre stage during the Falklands War following the successful ‘Black Buck’ operation for the bombing of Port Stanley airfield on the Falkland Islands.
In 1982, FR entered the vast United States components market via its £5.15 million purchase of Stanley Aviation.
To reflect its broad range of activities, Flight Refuelling (Holdings) Ltd. was renamed FR Group in 1985.
The group acquired Chelton, a leading maker of aircraft antennas, in 1989.
FR's annual sales were £185 million (US$296 million) in 1993, when the company had 3,500 employees.
In October 1994, FR bought Sargent Fletcher, a United States aerial refueling company, for US$11 million.
1994: Cobham plc acquires Atlantic Microwave Corporation, the first acquisition to become part of what is known today as Cobham Advanced Electronic Solutions (CAES)
The Group was renamed Cobham plc in 1994 on the centenary of Sir Alan’s birth and it has over time positioned itself as an innovative technology company with a bright future.
1996: Acquisition of Continental Microwave Tool & Co. and Kevlin Corporation
In 1996 British Aerospace and Cobham won a contract to refurbish the Royal Air Force's Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft.
1997: Acquisition of Nurad Technologies Inc.
Annual turnover increased in 1998 from £322.8 million to £384.1 million.
2001: Acquisition of Litton Airtron Microwave Product Line
2005: Acquisition of Microwave Development Company (MDC) as well as REMEC Defense and Space Inc.
April 2009: Cobham agreed to purchase Argotek Inc., a provider of high-end information assurance services to the United States Intelligence Community, for $36 million.
June 2009: A Cobham - Northrop Grumman 50-50 joint venture won the United States Army's US$2.4 billion competition to supply Vehicular Intercom Systems.
Early 2009, National Jet Systems renamed itself as Cobham (known as Cobham Aviation Services Australia or CAvSA) in line with a global Cobham rebranding initiative by its parent company Cobham plc.
October 2011: Cobham Analytic Solutions sold for $350 million to the privately owned Parsons Corporation.
2011: Acquisition of Trivec Avant Corporation
June 2012: Cobham acquires Danish satellite communications company Thrane & Thrane A/S, delisting the company and making it the core of Cobham's new SATCOM strategic business unit (SBU), to include SeaTel marine, TracStar land and Omnipless airborne SATCOM product lines.
Cobham SATCOM will be headquartered in Denmark and led by former Thrane & Thrane CEO Walter Thygesen, now the vice president of Cobham SATCOM. May 2013: Cobham acquires Axell Wireless Ltd.
July 2013: Cobham buys out FB Heliservices joint venture partner Bristow Helicopters.
2014: Acquisition of Aeroflex
2020: Advent International acquires Cobham plc
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Cobham competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teledyne Technologies Incorporated | 1960 | $5.7B | 10,850 | 326 |
| Curtiss-Wright | 1929 | $3.1B | 9,000 | 657 |
| Meggitt PLC | 1947 | $2.1B | 10,200 | - |
| OPTEK Technology | 1979 | - | 100 | - |
| Coherent | 1966 | $1.5B | 4,875 | 453 |
| Sensata | 1916 | $3.9B | 200 | 138 |
| Aerojet Rocketdyne | 1915 | $2.2B | 4,965 | - |
| Artesyn Embedded Technologies | 1968 | $23.0M | 107 | - |
| Kollmorgen | 1916 | $820.0M | 2,025 | - |
| Sparton | 1900 | $375.0M | 1,531 | 23 |
Cobham history FAQs
Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of Cobham, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about Cobham. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at Cobham. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by Cobham. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of Cobham and its employees or that of Zippia.
Cobham may also be known as or be related to Carleton Technologies, Inc., Cobham, Cobham Holdings Inc, Cobham Holdings Inc., Cobham Limited, Cobham Management Services Inc. and Cobham plc.