BAE Systems Land Systems South Africa is a South African defence company and a subsidiary of

BAE Systems Land Systems BAE Systems Platforms & Services is a wholly owned subsidiary of BAE Systems Inc. and is a large provider of tracked and wheeled armored combat vehicles, naval guns, naval ship repair and modernization, artillery and missile launching systems, ad ...

, itself part of

BAE Systems Land and Armaments BAE Systems Platforms & Services is a wholly owned subsidiary of BAE Systems Inc. and is a large provider of tracked and wheeled armored combat vehicles, naval guns, naval ship repair and modernization, artillery and missile launching systems, a ...

. Land Systems South Africa is organised into three divisions: Land Systems OMC, Land Systems Gear Ratio, and Land Systems Dynamics.

Land Systems OMC

Land Systems OMC is South Africa's primary military vehicle manufacturing company. OMC is the

initialism An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

under which the Olifant Manufacturing Company was most commonly known during its existence. It was established for the task of creating the

Olifant tank The Centurion was the primary British Army main battle tank of the post-World War II period. Introduced in 1945, it is widely considered to be one of the most successful post-war tank designs, remaining in production into the 1960s, and seeing ...

for the

South African Army The South African Army is the principal land warfare force of South Africa, a part of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), along with the South African Air Force, South African Navy and South African Military Health Service. ...

. Early into its life it was taken over by

Reunert Reunert is a surname and given name, likely of South African origin. Notable people with the surname or given name include: Surname * Clive Reunert (1887-1953), South African first-class cricketer and barrister * John Reunert (1886-1946), South Afr ...

, which subsequently turned it into a division called Reumech OMC. It was under this name that OMC saw its most prolific level of vehicle development, as the SA Army's involvement in the Border War in

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created a massive need for ever more advanced and capable vehicles. Following South Africa's readmittance to the international arena following democratic elections in 1994, a number of foreign defence industry companies expressed significant interest in purchasing the company. In 1999

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

Vickers Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public in 18 ...

purchased the company and renamed it Vickers OMC. This continued until

Alvis plc Alvis PLC was created when United Scientific Holdings plc acquired the Alvis division of the nationalised vehicle manufacturer British Leyland in 1981. United Scientific maintained its own name until 1992 when the group was renamed Alvis plc ...

, also of Britain, purchased Vickers' defence division, including OMC. Alvis renamed the company to Alvis OMC. The most recent chapter in the company's history was written in 2004, when

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. ...

purchased the military vehicle division of Alvis. OMC then became part of BAE Systems' Land Systems, again undergoing a name change to Land Systems OMC. In April 2015, it was announced the company has sold its 75% stake in LSSA, for a total of approximately 855 million

Rand The RAND Corporation (from the phrase "research and development") is an American nonprofit global policy think tank created in 1948 by Douglas Aircraft Company to offer research and analysis to the United States Armed Forces. It is financed ...

($53 million), to the state-owned group Denel.

Land Systems Gear Ratio

Land Systems Gear Ratio manufactures specialised geartrain products, primarily for military vehicles, but also for mining and earthmoving equipment, industrial machinery and traction locomotives.

Land Systems Dynamics

On 16 April 2008 BAE Systems agreed to acquire IST Dynamics, a South African company based in Pretoria which specialises in the development of fire directing systems, remotely controlled turrets; weapon stations and related fire control sub-systems; products and fire control sub-systems-related training systems.BAE Systems acquires IST Dynamics in South Africa
BAE Systems, 16 April 2008.

References

External links

Land Systems OMC
{{National Key Points navbox BAE Systems subsidiaries and divisions Defence companies of South Africa