The British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) was a British
aircraft manufacturer
An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, or spacecraft. Aerospace is a high technology indust ...
formed from the government-pressured merger of
English Electric Aviation Ltd.,
Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft), the
Bristol Aeroplane Company and
Hunting Aircraft
Hunting Aircraft was a British aircraft manufacturer that produced light training aircraft and the initial design that would evolve into the BAC 1-11 jet airliner. Founded as Percival Aircraft Co. in 1933, the company later moved to Luton, UK. ...
in 1960. Bristol, English Electric and Vickers became "parents" of BAC with shareholdings of 20%, 40% and 40% respectively. BAC in turn acquired the share capital of their aviation interests and 70% of Hunting Aircraft several months later.
History
Formation
![British Island Airways at Basle - 1985](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/British_Island_Airways_at_Basle_-_1985.jpg)
BAC's origins can be traced to a statement issued by the British government that it expected the various companies involved in the aircraft, guided weapons and engine industries to consolidate and merge with one another.
Furthermore, the government also promised incentives to motivate such restructuring; the maintenance of government research and development spending and the guarantee of aid in launching "promising new types of civil aircraft". One particularly high-profile incentive was the contract for a new large supersonic strike aircraft, which would become the
BAC TSR-2
The British Aircraft Corporation TSR-2 is a cancelled Cold War strike and reconnaissance aircraft developed by the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC), for the Royal Air Force (RAF) in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The TSR-2 was designed ...
.
[Gardner 1981, p. 37.]
Accordingly, during 1960, BAC was created as a jointly-owned
corporation
A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and r ...
by Vickers, English Electric and Bristol. Internally, the business had two divisions – the Aircraft Division under Sir
George Edwards and the Guided Weapons Division under
Viscount Caldecote. The aircraft operations of the three parents were now subsidiaries of BAC; "Bristol Aircraft Ltd", "English Electric Aviation Ltd" (with Viscount Caldecote as general manager) and "Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd" (under Sir George Edwards). BAC also had a controlling interest in Hunting Aircraft. The parents still had significant aviation interests outside BAC. English Electric had Napier & Son aero-engines, Bristol had 50% of Bristol Aerojet and
Bristol Siddeley
Bristol Siddeley Engines Ltd (BSEL) was a British aero engine manufacturer. The company was formed in 1959 by a merger of Bristol Aero-Engines Limited and Armstrong Siddeley Motors Limited. In 1961 the company was expanded by the purchase of t ...
engines and smaller investments in Westland and Short Brothers & Harland.
Upon the formation of BAC, the Bristol Aeroplane Company (Car Division) was not included in the consolidation. Instead, it was carved off by Sir George White, whose family had founded the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company in 1910 (later the
Bristol Aeroplane Company).
BAC's head office was on the top floors of the 100
Pall Mall building in the
City of Westminster
The City of Westminster is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and London boroughs, borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of cent ...
, London.
[Maps]
." City of Westminster. Retrieved on 28 August 2009.
Early endeavours
![concorde g-boab in storage arp](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Concorde_g-boab_in_storage_arp.jpg)
The majority of BAC's aircraft designs had been inherited from the individual companies that formed it. BAC did not apply its new identity retrospectively, hence the VC10 remained the
Vickers VC10
The Vickers VC10 is a mid-sized, narrow-body long-range British jet airliner designed and built by Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd and first flown at Brooklands, Surrey, in 1962. The airliner was designed to operate on long-distance route ...
. Instead the company applied its name to marketing initiatives, the VC10 advertising carried the name "Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Limited, a member company of the British Aircraft Corporation". The first model to bear the BAC name was the
BAC One-Eleven
The BAC One-Eleven (or BAC-111/BAC 1-11) was an early jet airliner produced by the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC).
Originally conceived by Hunting Aircraft as a 30-seat jet, before its merger into BAC in 1960, it was launched as an 80-se ...
(BAC 1–11), a Hunting Aircraft study, in 1961. Given the numerous government contract cancellations during the 1960s, the BAC 1–11, which had been launched as a private venture, probably saved the company.
Prior to the merger, Bristol had eschewed the subsonic airliner market in favour of working on the
Bristol 223
The Bristol Type 223 was an early design for a supersonic transport. In the late 1950s and early 1960s the Bristol Aeroplane Company studied a number of models as part of a large British inter-company effort funded by the government. These mo ...
supersonic transport
A supersonic transport (SST) or a supersonic airliner is a civilian supersonic aircraft designed to transport passengers at speeds greater than the speed of sound. To date, the only SSTs to see regular service have been Concorde and the Tupol ...
, The effort continued under BAC and was eventually merged with similar efforts underway at the French aircraft company
Sud Aviation, resulting in the Anglo-French
Concorde
The Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde () is a retired Franco-British supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation (later Aérospatiale) and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC).
Studies started in 1954, and France an ...
. Described by ''
Flight International
''Flight International'' is a monthly magazine focused on aerospace. Published in the United Kingdom and founded in 1909 as "A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport", it is the world's oldes ...
'' as an "aviation icon" and "one of aerospace's most ambitious but commercially flawed projects", sales of the type were lackluster against conventional subsonic airliners, primarily due to the emergence of
wide-body aircraft
A wide-body aircraft, also known as a twin-aisle aircraft, is an airliner with a fuselage wide enough to accommodate two passenger aisles with seven or more seats abreast. The typical fuselage diameter is . In the typical wide-body economy cabi ...
, such as the
Boeing 747
The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022.
After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, t ...
, which made subsonic airliners significantly more efficient. While by March 1969, the consortium had arrangements totalling 74 options from 16 airlines, only two airlines,
Air France
Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global air ...
and the
British Overseas Airways Corporation
British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was the British state-owned airline created in 1939 by the merger of Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd. It continued operating overseas services throughout World War II. After the passi ...
, would proceed with their orders. Scheduled services commenced on 21 January 1976 on both the London–
Bahrain
Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
and Paris–
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
routes.
![BAC TSR](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/BAC_TSR.2_XR219_Warton_11.06.66_edited-2.jpg)
In 1963, BAC acquired the previously autonomous guided weapons divisions of English Electric and Bristol to form a new subsidiary, British Aircraft Corporation (Guided Weapons). The company enjoyed some success, including development of the
Rapier
A rapier () or is a type of sword with a slender and sharply-pointed two-edged blade that was popular in Western Europe, both for civilian use (dueling and self-defense) and as a military side arm, throughout the 16th and 17th centuries.
Impo ...
,
Sea Skua
The Sea Skua is a British lightweight short-range air-to-surface missile (ASM) designed for use from helicopters against ships. It was primarily used by the Royal Navy on the Westland Lynx. Although the missile is intended for helicopter use, Kuw ...
and
Sea Wolf missile
The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...
s. BAC eventually expanded this division to include electronics and space systems and, in 1966, started what was to become a fruitful relationship with
Hughes Aircraft
The Hughes Aircraft Company was a major American aerospace and defense contractor founded on February 14, 1934 by Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting p ...
. Hughes awarded major contracts to BAC, including sub-systems for
Intelsat satellites.
BAC had inherited the
aerospace
Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astrona ...
activities of several companies via its formation, and research into various space-related ventures continued at the new entity.
One of BAC's research teams, headed by engineer
Tom Smith, Chief of the Aerospace Department at BAC, that was initially investigating
supersonic
Supersonic speed is the speed of an object that exceeds the speed of sound ( Mach 1). For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level, this speed is approximately . Speeds greater than five times ...
and
hypersonic
In aerodynamics, a hypersonic speed is one that exceeds 5 times the speed of sound, often stated as starting at speeds of Mach 5 and above.
The precise Mach number at which a craft can be said to be flying at hypersonic speed varies, since in ...
flight problems, became interested in the application of such a vehicle for space-related activities, leading to the
BAC Mustard
The Multi-Unit Space Transport And Recovery Device or MUSTARD, usually written as Mustard, was a reusable launch system concept that was explored by the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) during the mid-1960s.
Mustard was intended to operate ...
, a
reusable launch system
A reusable launch vehicle have parts that can be recovered and reflown, while carrying payloads from the surface to outer space. Rocket stages are the most common launch vehicle parts aimed for reuse. Smaller parts such as rocket engines and boost ...
that comprised several near-identical winged vehicles.
In the most detailed design, Mustard was to have weighed roughly 420 tonnes prior to launch, and been capable of delivering a three tonne payload to a
geostationary earth orbit (GEO). According to author Nigel Henbest, Britain was likely unable to pursue Mustard's development alone, but suggested organising a multinational European venture, similar to the conventional
Europa
Europa may refer to:
Places
* Europe
* Europa (Roman province), a province within the Diocese of Thrace
* Europa (Seville Metro), Seville, Spain; a station on the Seville Metro
* Europa City, Paris, France; a planned development
* Europa Cliff ...
and
Ariane launchers.
The knowledge and expertise developed on this project was subsequently harnessed on later efforts, most prominently the re-usable
HOTOL
HOTOL, for Horizontal Take-Off and Landing, was a 1980s British design for a single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) spaceplane that was to be powered by an airbreathing jet engine. Development was being conducted by a consortium led by Rolls-Royce and ...
spaceplane project of the 1980s.
[Sharp 2016, .][Henbest, Nigel]
"How Britain missed out on MUSTARD."
''New Scientist
''New Scientist'' is a magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organisation publishe ...
'', Vol. 110, No. 1509. ISSN 0262-4079. 22 May 1986, p. 60.
Development of the TSR-2 was one of the company's most high-profile projects. However, as the programme proceeded, continuous cost rises were incurred, while inter-service rivalry led to frequent challenges of its necessity. During April 1965, the British government announced that it had decided to withdraw its order for the TSR-2, leaving it without an established customer. By this point, the programme was already in the prototype phase and the aircraft had already flown, but political pressure forced development work to cease, leading to the remaining airframes and most supporting equipment and documentation to be destroyed.
[Burke 2010, pp. 109, 276.]["Sir Frederick Page."](_blank)
''The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was fo ...
'', 7 May 2005. Retrieved: 4 February 2010. The TSR-2's last minute termination has been widely viewed as a major blow not only to BAC but the wider British aircraft industry.
[Winchester, ''Concept Aircraft: Prototypes, X-Planes and Experimental Aircraft'', 2005, p. 173.]
New ventures
On 17 May 1965, the British and French governments announced the signing of a pair of agreements to cover the two joint projects; one based on the French aircraft company
Breguet Aviation Breguet or Bréguet may refer to:
* Breguet (watch), watch manufacturer
**Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747–1823), Swiss watchmaker
** Louis-François-Clement Breguet (1804–1883), French physicist, watchmaker, electrical and telegraph work
* Brégue ...
Br.121 ECAT ("Tactical Combat Support Trainer") proposal; this would evolve into the
SEPECAT Jaguar
The SEPECAT Jaguar is an Anglo-French jet attack aircraft originally used by the British Royal Air Force and the French Air Force in the close air support and nuclear strike role. It is still in service with the Indian Air Force.
Originall ...
. The other was the
BAC/Dassault AFVG (Anglo-French Variable Geometry), a larger, variable geometry
carrier-capable fighter aircraft for the French Navy (
''Aéronavale'') as well as fulfilling interceptor, tactical strike and reconnaissance roles for the RAF.
["Anglo-French projects go ahead... The AFVG and its dual role."](_blank)
''Flight'' via ''flightglobal.com,'' 26 January 1967.[Wood 1975, p. 202.] The AFVG was to be jointly developed by BAC and
Dassault Aviation, while the proposed
M45G turbofan
The turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft engine, aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a portmanteau of "turbine" and "fan": the ''turbo'' portion refers to a gas turbine engine which ac ...
engine to power the aircraft was to also be jointly developed by
SNECMA
Safran Aircraft Engines, previously Snecma (''Société nationale d'études et de construction de moteurs d'aviation'') or Snecma Moteurs, is a French aerospace engine manufacturer headquartered in Courcouronnes and a subsidiary of Safran. It ...
and Bristol Siddeley.
However, during June 1967, the French government announced its withdrawal from the AFVG effort ostensibly on the grounds of cost.
[Wood 1975, pp. 203–204.]
![JaguarGR1 41Sqn Gulf1991](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/JaguarGR1_41Sqn_Gulf1991.jpeg)
During May 1966, BAC and Breguet formally created
SEPECAT, a joint venture company, to develop, market, and produce the Anglo-French Jaguar strike fighter. The Jaguar programme ultimately took the place of several earlier efforts, including the AFVG. The first of the Jaguar's eight prototypes flew on 8 September 1968.
[''Flight'' 12 September 1968, p. 391.][Taylor 1971, p. 107.] During 1973, service entry was achieved with the French Air Force, by which time Breguet had become part of
Dassault Aviation. SEPECAT received various export orders for the Jaguar, overseas nations that flew the type included
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
,
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...
,
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
and
Oman
Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...
.
[Eden 2004, p. 399.][''Air International'' October 1988, pp. 177–181.] Dassault were less supportive of SEPECAT, preferring to promote its own aircraft; several potential customers for the Jaguar were convinced to order Dassault's
Mirage series instead.
During 1964, both BAC and its principal domestic rival,
Hawker Siddeley, conducted detailed studies on the prospects of producing stretched versions of their existing airliners, the VC10 and the
Hawker Siddeley Trident
The Hawker Siddeley HS-121 Trident (originally the de Havilland DH.121 and briefly the Airco DH.121) is a British airliner produced by Hawker Siddeley.
In 1957, de Havilland proposed its DH.121 trijet design to a British European Airways (BEA ...
. In the first half of the following year, BAC submitted its proposals for the production of two separate double-decker versions of the VC10, which was commonly referred to as the ''Super VC10''; however, it was quickly recognised that the British government would be required substantial support for the initiative to succeed, involving "several tens of millions of
pounds". According to aviation author Derek Wood, the enlarged double-decker, which was to be equipped with the proposed
Rolls-Royce RB178 turbofan
The turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft engine, aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a portmanteau of "turbine" and "fan": the ''turbo'' portion refers to a gas turbine engine which ac ...
engine, would have had good commercial prospects, yet financing for the programme was not forthcoming and the
British Overseas Airways Corporation
British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was the British state-owned airline created in 1939 by the merger of Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd. It continued operating overseas services throughout World War II. After the passi ...
(BOAC) has ultimately opted to procure the rival Boeing 747 instead.
[Wood 1975, p. 234.]
In 1967, the British, French and German governments agreed to start development of the 300-seat
Airbus A300
The Airbus A300 is a wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Airbus.
In September 1967, aircraft manufacturers in the United Kingdom, France, and West Germany signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a large airliner.
West ...
.
BAC argued against the proposal in favour of their
BAC Three-Eleven
The BAC Two-Eleven and BAC Three-Eleven were pair of proposals for British airliners that were produced by the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) during the late 1960s. The projects had emerged from design studies which had been aimed at co ...
project, intended as a large wide-bodied airliner like the Airbus A300,
Douglas DC-10
The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 is an American trijet wide-body aircraft manufactured by McDonnell Douglas.
The DC-10 was intended to succeed the DC-8 for long- range flights. It first flew on August 29, 1970; it was introduced on August 5, 197 ...
and
Lockheed TriStar
The Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, also known as the L-1011 (pronounced "El-ten-eleven") and TriStar, is an American medium-to-long-range, wide-body trijet airliner built by the Lockheed Corporation. It was the third wide-body airliner to enter comme ...
. Like the One-Eleven, it would have carried two Rolls-Royce
turbofan
The turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft engine, aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a portmanteau of "turbine" and "fan": the ''turbo'' portion refers to a gas turbine engine which ac ...
engines, mounted near the tail, but have been able to accommodate up to 245 passengers seated in an eight abreast configuration at a 34-inch pitch (or up to 300 passengers at a 30-inch pitch).
[Wood 1975, p. 236.] The British national airline
British European Airways
British European Airways (BEA), formally British European Airways Corporation, was a British airline which existed from 1946 until 1974.
BEA operated to Europe, North Africa and the Middle East from airports around the United Kingdom. The a ...
(BEA) was publicly interested in the type; during August 1970, BEA's chairman, Sir Anthony Milward, declared his personal optimism for the Three-Eleven.
However, Britain's potential
Common Market
The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...
partners warned that, since the Three-Eleven would directly compete against the European Airbus, around which they had largely coalesced, the project effectively undermined British loyalty to the EEC which, at this point, the British government was interested in joining.
On 2 December 1970,
Frederick Corfield
Sir Frederick Vernon Corfield (1 June 1915 – 25 August 2005) was a British Conservative politician and minister.
Early life
Corfield was the son of Brigadier Frederick Alleyne Corfield of the British Indian Army and Mary Graham Vernon, daugh ...
, the Minister for Aviation Supply, announced in the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
that there would be no official backing from the government for the Three-Eleven programme.
Saudi Arabia
![Lightning](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Lightning.inflight.arp.750pix.jpg)
During the early 1960s, the Saudi Arabian government announced its intention to launch a massive defence acquisition programme involving the replacement of the country's fighter aircraft and the establishment of an advanced air defence and communications network. American companies seemed guaranteed to win much of this work, however, the
Royal Saudi Air Force
The Royal Saudi Air Force ( ar, الْقُوَّاتُ الْجَوِّيَّةُ الْمَلَكِيَّةْ ٱلسُّعُوْدِيَّة, Al-Quwwat Al-Jawiyah Al-Malakiyah as-Su’udiyah) (RSAF) is the aviation branch of the Saudi Arabia ...
(RSAF) would ultimately be supplied with large amounts of British-made aircraft and equipment to fulfill their needs.
By 1964, BAC conducted demonstration flights of their
Lightning
Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electric charge, electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the land, ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous ...
in
Riyadh
Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the R ...
and, in 1965,
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
signed a
letter of intent
A letter of intent (LOI or LoI, or Letter of Intent) is a document outlining the understanding between two or more parties which they intend to formalize in a legally binding agreement. The concept is similar to a heads of agreement, term sh ...
to purchase Lightning and
Strikemaster aircraft as well as
Thunderbird
Thunderbird, thunder bird or thunderbirds may refer to:
* Thunderbird (mythology), a legendary creature in certain North American indigenous peoples' history and culture
* Ford Thunderbird, a car
Birds
* Dromornithidae, extinct flightless birds ...
surface-to-air missiles. The main contract was signed in 1966 for forty Lightnings and twenty-five (ultimately forty) Strikemasters. In 1973, the Saudi government signed an agreement with the British government which specified BAC as the contractor for all parts of the defence system (
AEI was previously contracted to supply the radar equipment and
Airwork Services provided servicing and training). Overall spending by the RSAF was over £1 billion GBP.
BAC, with the Lightning/Strikemaster contract;
British Aerospace
British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. Formed in 1977, in 1999 it purchased Marconi ...
, with the
Al Yamamah
Al-Yamama ( ar, اليَمامَة, al-Yamāma) is a historical region in the southeastern Najd in modern-day Saudi Arabia, or sometimes more specifically, the now-extinct ancient village of Jaww al-Yamamah, near al-Kharj, after which the rest ...
contracts; and most recently
BAE Systems
BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company based in London, England. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe, and ranked the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenues. ...
, with the order for
Typhoon
A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, and is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for a ...
multi-role fighters, have all benefited from large arms contracts with Saudi Arabia.
Tornado
![tornado](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Tornado.ze342.arp.jpg)
In June 1967, the AFVG was cancelled due to the withdrawal of French participation. Britain then turned to a national project, the UK Variable Geometry (UKVG), for which
BAC Warton was given a design contract by the
Ministry of Technology
The Ministry of Technology was a department of the government of the United Kingdom, sometimes abbreviated as "MinTech". The Ministry of Technology was established by the incoming government of Harold Wilson in October 1964 as part of Wilson's am ...
. These studies eventually became known as the BAC Advanced Combat Aircraft programme. In 1968, Britain was invited to join Canada and the F-104 Consortium (a grouping of Germany, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands), all of whom wished to replace their current aircraft with a common design, subsequently described as the Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA).
On 26 March 1969,
Panavia Aircraft GmbH
Panavia Aircraft GmbH is a German company established by the three partner states of the Tornado Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA) project: West Germany, Italy and the UK.
Structure
The company was based and registered in West Germany. Si ...
was formed by BAC,
MBB,
Fiat
Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...
and
Fokker
Fokker was a Dutch aircraft manufacturer named after its founder, Anthony Fokker. The company operated under several different names. It was founded in 1912 in Berlin, Germany, and became famous for its fighter aircraft in World War I. In 1919 ...
. In May, a "project definition phase" was commenced, concluding in early 1970. Two aircraft designs resulted: the single-seat Panavia 100 and the twin-seat Panavia 200. The RAF favoured the 200, as did Germany after its initial enthusiasm for the 100.
In September 1971, the governments of Britain, Italy and Germany signed an Intention to Proceed (ITP) with the
Panavia Tornado
The Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine, variable-sweep wing multirole combat aircraft, jointly developed and manufactured by Italy, the United Kingdom and West Germany. There are three primary Tornado variants: the Tornado IDS (inter ...
. On 30 October 1974, the first British prototype (the second to fly) took off from the BAC airfield at Warton. The three governments signed the contract for Batch 1 of the aircraft on 29 July 1976. BAC and subsequently British Aerospace would deliver 228
Tornado GR1s and 152
Tornado F3s to the RAF.
Merger speculation and nationalisation
For most of its history, BAC was the subject of rumour and speculation that it was to merge with
Hawker Siddeley Aviation
Hawker Siddeley was a group of British manufacturing companies engaged in aircraft production. Hawker Siddeley combined the legacies of several British aircraft manufacturers, emerging through a series of mergers and acquisitions as one of onl ...
(HSA). On 21 November 1966,
Fred Mulley
Frederick William Mulley, Baron Mulley, PC (3 July 1918 – 15 March 1995) was a British Labour politician, barrister-at-law and economist.
Early life
Mulley attended Warwick School between 1929 and 1936. He served in the Worcestershire Regime ...
, the
Minister of Aviation
The Ministry of Aviation was a department of the United Kingdom government established in 1959. Its responsibilities included the regulation of civil aviation and the supply of military aircraft, which it took on from the Ministry of Supply. ...
, announced in the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
that:
The government envisaged acquiring BAC's capital and merging it with Hawker Siddeley. The ownership of BAC would thus give the government a minority stake in the new company. Although BAC's parent companies were prepared to sell their shares for a reasonable price, the government proposal, in their view, undervalued the group. By August 1967, the success of the BAC 1–11 and defence sales to Saudi Arabia made the prospect of the parent companies selling their shares less likely. In December 1967,
Tony Benn
Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn (3 April 1925 – 14 March 2014), known between 1960 and 1963 as Viscount Stansgate, was a British politician, writer and diarist who served as a Cabinet minister in the 1960s and 1970s. A member of the Labour Party, ...
, the Minister of Technology, while reiterating his desire to see a merged BAC and HSA, admitted it would not be possible.
Akin to BAC, the Hawker Siddeley Group was expanded by merger, while engine design and manufacturing was concentrated at Rolls-Royce and the newly formed
Bristol-Siddeley Engines
Bristol Siddeley Engines Ltd (BSEL) was a British aero engine manufacturer. The company was formed in 1959 by a merger of Bristol Aero-Engines Limited and Armstrong Siddeley Motors Limited. In 1961 the company was expanded by the purchase of t ...
. Helicopter development was given to
Westland Helicopters
Westland Helicopters was a British aircraft manufacturer. Originally Westland Aircraft, the company focused on helicopters after the Second World War. It was amalgamated with several other British firms in 1960 and 1961.
In 2000, it merged ...
.
During 1966,
Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to:
* Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct
Automobiles
* Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...
acquired Bristol Aeroplane from BAC, integrating the firm into its Bristol Siddeley aero-engine business, but declared it had no interest in the BAC shareholding. Despite this, Rolls-Royce still had not disposed of its BAC shareholding when the business was declared to be
bankrupt
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debt ...
during 1971. The 20% share was eventually acquired from
receivership
In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in c ...
by Vickers and
GEC, which had acquired English Electric during 1968.
On 29 April 1977, BAC, the Hawker Siddeley Group and
Scottish Aviation
Scottish Aviation Limited was an aircraft manufacturer based at Prestwick, Scotland.
History
The company was founded in 1935. Originally a flying school operator, the company took on maintenance work in 1938.
During the Second World War, Scott ...
were nationalised and merged under the provisions of
Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act 1977
The Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act 1977 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that nationalised large parts of the UK aerospace and shipbuilding industries and established two corporations, British Aerospace and British S ...
. This new group was established as a statutory corporation,
British Aerospace
British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. Formed in 1977, in 1999 it purchased Marconi ...
(BAe).
Products
Products usually known under the BAC name include:
Aircraft
*
AFVG proposed and cancelled multi-role military jet
*
BAC One-Eleven
The BAC One-Eleven (or BAC-111/BAC 1-11) was an early jet airliner produced by the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC).
Originally conceived by Hunting Aircraft as a 30-seat jet, before its merger into BAC in 1960, it was launched as an 80-se ...
jetliner
*
BAC Two-Eleven and Three-Eleven
The BAC Two-Eleven and BAC Three-Eleven were pair of proposals for British airliners that were produced by the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) during the late 1960s. The projects had emerged from design studies which had been aimed at co ...
– proposed and cancelled jetliners
*
BAC 221 – jet fighter concept modified Fairey Delta 2 for Concorde development work
*
BAC Jet Provost
The BAC Jet Provost is a British jet trainer aircraft that was in use with the Royal Air Force (RAF) from 1955 to 1993. It was originally developed by Hunting Percival from the earlier piston engine-powered Percival Provost basic trainer, a ...
trainer aircraft
*
BAC Strikemaster
The BAC 167 Strikemaster is a British jet-powered training and light attack aircraft. It was a development of the Hunting Jet Provost trainer, itself a jet engined version of the Percival Provost, which originally flew in 1950 with a radial p ...
military attack jet
*
BAC/Aérospatiale Concorde – supersonic jetliner
*
BAC TSR-2
The British Aircraft Corporation TSR-2 is a cancelled Cold War strike and reconnaissance aircraft developed by the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC), for the Royal Air Force (RAF) in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The TSR-2 was designed ...
Tactical strike/reconnaissance jet fighter
* BAC/
Bristol 188
The Bristol 188 is a British supersonic research aircraft built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company in the 1950s. Its length, slender cross-section and intended purpose led to its being nicknamed the "Flaming Pencil". – experimental jet
* BAC/
Bristol Britannia – Turboprop airliner
* BAC/
English Electric Canberra
The English Electric Canberra is a British first-generation, jet-powered medium bomber. It was developed by English Electric during the mid- to late 1940s in response to a 1944 Air Ministry requirement for a successor to the wartime de Havil ...
– jet bomber
* BAC/
English Electric Lightning
The English Electric Lightning is a British fighter aircraft that served as an interceptor during the 1960s, the 1970s and into the late 1980s. It was capable of a top speed of above Mach 2. The Lightning was designed, developed, and manufa ...
– supersonic jet fighter
* BAC/
Hunting H.126
The Hunting H.126 was an experimental aircraft designed and built by British aviation company Hunting Aircraft.
The aircraft was developed in order to test the performance of blown flaps, which were commonly known in Britain as "jet flaps", At ...
– experimental aircraft
* BAC/Hunting Jet Provost – military jet trainer
* BAC/Vickers
Supermarine Scimitar
The Supermarine Scimitar was a single-seat naval strike aircraft designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Supermarine. Operated exclusively by the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm, it was the final aircraft to be entirely designed a ...
– naval jet strike fighter
* BAC/
Vickers VC10
The Vickers VC10 is a mid-sized, narrow-body long-range British jet airliner designed and built by Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd and first flown at Brooklands, Surrey, in 1962. The airliner was designed to operate on long-distance route ...
– jet liner
* BAC/
Vickers Viscount
The Vickers Viscount is a British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs. A design requirement from the Brabazon Committee, it entered service in 1953 and was the first turboprop-powered airliner.
The Visc ...
– Turboprop airliner
* BAC/
Vickers Vanguard
The Vickers Vanguard was a short/medium-range turboprop airliner designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Vickers-Armstrongs.
The Vanguard was developed during the mid-to-late 1950s in response to a specification issued by ...
– Turboprop airliner
*
Panavia Tornado
The Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine, variable-sweep wing multirole combat aircraft, jointly developed and manufactured by Italy, the United Kingdom and West Germany. There are three primary Tornado variants: the Tornado IDS (inter ...
/
Panavia Tornado ADV
The Panavia Tornado Air Defence Variant (ADV) was a long-range, twin-engine interceptor version of the swing-wing Panavia Tornado. The aircraft's first flight was on 27 October 1979, and it entered service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 19 ...
– multi-role attack jet fighter; multinational project
*
SEPECAT Jaguar
The SEPECAT Jaguar is an Anglo-French jet attack aircraft originally used by the British Royal Air Force and the French Air Force in the close air support and nuclear strike role. It is still in service with the Indian Air Force.
Originall ...
– Ground attack jet fighter; Anglo-French project
Missiles
* BAC
Rapier missile surface-to-air missile
* BAC
Sea Skua
The Sea Skua is a British lightweight short-range air-to-surface missile (ASM) designed for use from helicopters against ships. It was primarily used by the Royal Navy on the Westland Lynx. Although the missile is intended for helicopter use, Kuw ...
helicopter-launched naval air-to-surface missile
* BAC
Sea Wolf missile
The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...
naval/shipborne-guided surface-to-air missile
* BAC
Swingfire
Swingfire was a British wire-guided anti-tank missile developed in the 1960s and produced from 1966 until 1993. The name refers to its ability to make a rapid turn of up to ninety degrees after firing to bring it onto the line of the sighting ...
anti-tank missile
* BAC/
Vickers Vigilant
The Vickers Vigilant was a British 1960s era MCLOS wire-guided anti-tank missile used by the British Army. It was also licence-built in the United States by Clevite for the US Marine Corps, and sometimes known as Clevite rounds in this case. It ...
wire-guided anti-tank missile
In addition BAC continued with the
Bristol Bloodhound
The Bristol Bloodhound is a British ramjet powered surface-to-air missile developed during the 1950s. It served as the UK's main air defence weapon into the 1990s and was in large-scale service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the forces of ...
and
English Electric Thunderbird
The English Electric Thunderbird was a British surface-to-air missile produced for the British Army. Thunderbird was primarily intended to attack higher altitude targets at ranges up to approximately , providing wide-area air defence for the Army ...
surface-to-air missiles.
Spacecraft
BAC was involved in uncrewed spacecraft, principally satellites
*
Ariel 4
Ariel 4, known pre-launch as UK 4, was a British ionospheric research satellite, which was operated by the Science and Engineering Research Council. It was launched 11 December 1971, aboard an American Scout rocket. Experiments were designed to mee ...
– research satellite
*
Intelsat – communications satellite; BAC provided several sub-systems to Hughes (the prime contractor) and assembled Intelsat 4 as well as providing the structure solar panels and battery pack
"Application Satellites"
''Flight'' 16 July 1970 p. 1308
* Prospero X-3
The ''Prospero'' satellite, also known as the X-3, was launched by the United Kingdom in 1971. It was designed to undertake a series of experiments to study the effects of the space environment on communications satellites and remained operat ...
– experimental satellite
* Multi-Unit Space Transport And Recovery Device (MUSTARD) was a proposed launch system consisting of three reusable lifting body craft operating together.
Key people
Aircraft designers and engineers
* Colin Baron
* Ray Creasey
* George Edwards
* Roy Ewans
* Frederick Page
Sir Frederick William Page (20 February 1917 – 29 May 2005) was an English aircraft designer and manager. He had large involvements with two British aircraft projects - the English Electric Lightning and the BAC TSR.2. Arguably, the sum to ...
* Archibald Russell
Sir Archibald Russell, CBE, FRS (30 May 1904 – 29 May 1995) was a British aerospace engineer who worked most of his career at the Bristol Aeroplane Company, before becoming managing director of the Filton Division when Bristol merged into Brit ...
* Tom Smith
* Bill Strang
Test pilots
* Roland Beamont
Wing Commander Roland Prosper "Bee" Beamont, (10 August 1920 – 19 November 2001) was a British fighter pilot for the Royal Air Force (RAF) and an experimental test pilot during and after the Second World War. He was the first British pilot to ...
* Jimmy Dell
* David Eagles
Lieutenant Commander John David Eagles AFC FRAeS (born 1935) is a British former test pilot and former Fleet Air Arm aviator.
Early life
Dave Eagles was born in Brighouse in the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1935, now in Kirklees. He attended Mi ...
See also
* Aerospace industry in the United Kingdom
The aerospace industry of the United Kingdom is the second-largest national aerospace industry in the world (after the United States) and the largest in Europe by turnover, with a global market share of 17% in 2019. In 2020, the industry employe ...
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
* Burke, Damien. ''TSR2: Britain's Lost Bomber''. Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire, UK: The Crowood Press, 2010. .
* Bowman, Martin W. ''SEPECAT Jaguar.'' London: Pen and Sword Books, 2007. .
* .
* Eden, Paul. ''The Encyclopedia of Modern Military Aircraft''. London, UK: Amber Books, 2004. .
* .
* Hill, C.N. "A Vertical Empire: The History of the UK Rocket and Space Programme, 1950–1971." ''World Scientific'', 2001. .
* Taylor, John W. R. ''Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1971–72''. London: Sampson Low Marston & Co, 1971. .
* Sharp, Dan. ''British Secret Projects 5: Britain's Space Shuttle.'' Crécy, 2016. .
* "The Decade of the Shamsher: Part One". ''Air International'', Vol. 35, No. 4, October 1988, pp. 175–183. ISSN 0306-5634.
* Wood, Derek. ''Project Cancelled''. Macdonald and Jane's Publishers, 1975. .
"World News: Jaguar First Flight."
''Flight International
''Flight International'' is a monthly magazine focused on aerospace. Published in the United Kingdom and founded in 1909 as "A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport", it is the world's oldes ...
'' via ''flightglobal.com,'' 12 September 1968, p. 391.
{{Authority control
British companies established in 1960
1977 disestablishments in England
Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United Kingdom
Defunct helicopter manufacturers of the United Kingdom
Former defence companies of the United Kingdom
Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1960
Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1977
British companies disestablished in 1977