Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB) was a

West German West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

aerospace 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 industry. ...

. It was formed during the late 1960s as the result of efforts to consolidate the West German aerospace industry; aircraft manufacturer

Messerschmitt Messerschmitt AG () was a German share-ownership limited, aircraft manufacturing corporation named after its chief designer Willy Messerschmitt from mid-July 1938 onwards, and known primarily for its World War II fighter aircraft, in partic ...

AG merged with the civil engineering and aviation firm

Bölkow Bölkow was a West German aircraft manufacturer based in Stuttgart, Germany, and later Ottobrunn. History The company was founded in 1948 by Ludwig Bölkow, who since 1955 with Emil Weiland had developed helicopters for Bölkow Entwicklungen KG. ...

during 1968, while rival aircraft manufacturer

Hamburger Flugzeugbau ''Hamburger Flugzeugbau'' (HFB) was an aircraft manufacturer, located primarily in the Finkenwerder quarter of Hamburg, Germany. Established in 1933 as an offshoot of Blohm & Voss shipbuilders, it later became an operating division within its pare ...

was acquired by the company in the following year. The company was responsible for the development and manufacture of various aircraft during its existence. Among its best-known products was the

MBB Bo 105 The Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm Bo 105 is a light, twin-engine, multi-purpose helicopter developed by Bölkow of Ottobrunn, West Germany. It was the first light twin-engine helicopter in the world, and the first rotorcraft that could perform a ...

light twin-engine helicopter and its enlarged derivative, the

MBB/Kawasaki BK 117 The MBB/Kawasaki BK 117 is a twin-engined medium Utility helicopter, utility–transport helicopter. It was jointly developed and manufactured by Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB) of Germany and Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Kawasaki of Japan. MBB ...

. MBB was also a key early partner on the

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 G ...

, a wide-body twin-jet

airliner An airliner is a type of aircraft for transporting passengers and air cargo. Such aircraft are most often operated by airlines. Although the definition of an airliner can vary from country to country, an airliner is typically defined as an ...

; the company's involvement in the A300's development and production led to it forming a key component of the multinational

Airbus Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European Multinational corporation, multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace manufacturer, aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft througho ...

consortium. It was also involved in numerous experimental aircraft programmes, such as the

MBB Lampyridae The MBB Lampyridae (Latin for Firefly) was a low-observable medium missile fighter (MRMF) developed during the 1980s by the West German aerospace company Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB).

, an aborted

stealth aircraft Stealth aircraft are designed to avoid detection using a variety of technologies that reduce reflection/emission of radar, infrared, visible light, radio frequency (RF) spectrum, and audio, collectively known as stealth technology. The F-117 N ...

. The ownership and assets of MBB changed drastically throughout its roughly two decades of existence. The company was bought by

Deutsche Aerospace AG ''Dasa'' ( sa, दास, Dāsa) is a Sanskrit word found in ancient Indian texts such as the ''Rigveda'' and ''Arthasastra''. It usually means "enemy" or "servant" but ''dasa'', or ''das'', also means a " servant of God", "devotee," " votary" or ...

(DASA) during 1989; following several mergers and restructures, the assets of what was MBB presently form a part of

Airbus Group Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: '' ...

History

On 6 June 1968,

AG merged with the small civil engineering and civil aviation firm

, becoming Messerschmitt-Bölkow. The following May, the firm acquired

(HFB), which had originated as a branch of

Blohm+Voss Blohm is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Hans Blohm C.M. (born 1927), photographer and author *Hermann Blohm (1848–1930), German businessman and co-founder of German company Blohm+Voss *Linn Blohm (born 1992), Swedish handbal ...

. To reflect the latter's acquisition, the company changed its name to ''Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm'' (MBB). Upon its formation, 51% of the shares in MBB was owned by the Blohm family,

Willy Messerschmitt Wilhelm Emil "Willy" Messerschmitt (; 26 June 1898 – 15 September 1978) was a German aircraft designer and manufacturer. In 1934, in collaboration with Walter Rethel, he designed the Messerschmitt Bf 109, which became the most importan ...

and

Ludwig Bölkow Ludwig Bölkow (30 June 1912 – 25 July 2003) was one of the aeronautical pioneers of Germany. Background Born in Schwerin, in then north-central Germany, in 1912, Bölkow was the son of a foreman employed by Fokker, one of the leading air ...

; 22.07% was owned by the German State of

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, 17.05% by the state of

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

, 7.16% by

Thyssen AG Thyssen was a major German steel producer founded by August Thyssen. The company merged with Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp to form ThyssenKrupp in 1999. History On 29 September 1891, August Thyssen and his brother Joseph Thyssen came to be i ...

, 7.16% by

Siemens AG Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...

, 7.13% by Allianz Versicherungs-AG, 7.13% by

Robert Bosch GmbH Robert Bosch GmbH (; ), commonly known as Bosch and stylized as BOSCH, is a German multinational engineering and technology company headquartered in Gerlingen, Germany. The company was founded by Robert Bosch in Stuttgart in 1886. Bosch is 9 ...

and 6.15% by Friedrich Krupp GmbH. Perhaps the most successful product produced primarily by MBB was the

Bo 105 The Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm Bo 105 is a light, twin-engine, multi-purpose helicopter developed by Bölkow of Ottobrunn, West Germany. It was the first light twin-engine helicopter in the world, and the first rotorcraft that could perform ae ...

helicopter. This rotorcraft, the design of which was headed by German engineer

, made use of a revolutionary

hinge A hinge is a mechanical bearing that connects two solid objects, typically allowing only a limited angle of rotation between them. Two objects connected by an ideal hinge rotate relative to each other about a fixed axis of rotation: all other ...

less main rotor composed of

fibreglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...

.Rieck, Joan M
"Bölkow's Bo105."
''Flight International'', 18 May 1967, p. 794. On 13 October 1970, the German Civil Aviation Authority certified the Bo 105; initial deliveries for the first customers, ADAC Air Rescue and the

Bavarian State Police The Bavarian State Police (german: Bayerische Staatliche Polizei) is the state police force of the German state of Bavaria under the umbrella of the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior. It has approximately 33,500 armed officers and roughly 8,500 ot ...

, took place shortly thereafter. During 1972, an improved version of the rotorcraft with more powerful engines, the Bo 105C, was developed, this model quickly superseded the Bo 105A.Gotzhein, Christina
"Eurocopter Celebrates the 40th Anniversary of the Maiden Flight of the BO105, the World's First Light Twin-Turbine Production Helicopter."
''Eurocopter'', 15 February 2007. Following its introduction to service in 1970, the Bo 105 quickly proved to be a commercial success. Production continued until 2001; by the end of production, 1,406 rotorcraft had been manufactured and delivered to operators in 55 nations worldwide. It served as the basis for several derivatives, such as the

.McCellan 1986, p. 64. Having established a reputation for reliability and safety, MBB, along with one of its major

shareholder A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of a corporation is an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the legal own ...

Boeing Vertol Boeing Rotorcraft Systems (formerly Boeing Helicopters and before that Boeing Vertol) is the former name of an American aircraft manufacturer, now known as Vertical Lift division of Boeing Defense, Space & Security. The headquarters and main r ...

, began studying options during the 1970s for producing an enlarged version to accompany the Bo 105.McCellan 1986, pp. 64, 66. However, Boeing withdrew from the venture, leading to MBB search for another partner; this was found in the form of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese company

Kawasaki Heavy Industries (or simply Kawasaki) is a Japanese Public company, public multinational corporation manufacturer of motorcycles, engines, Heavy equipment (construction), heavy equipment, aerospace and Military, defense equipment, rolling stock and ships, headq ...

.McCellan 1986, p. 66. On 25 February 1977, MBB and Kawasaki signed an agreement to cooperate on the development of a new rotorcraft. Under the terms of this agreement, the two corporations merged their previously separate projects to produce twin-engined general purpose helicopters, these being the ''Bo 107'' by MBB and the ''KH-7'' from Kawasaki.''Air International'' April 1989, p. 163. Separate elements were assigned to each company; MBB were responsible for developing the

rotor Rotor may refer to: Science and technology Engineering *Rotor (electric), the non-stationary part of an alternator or electric motor, operating with a stationary element so called the stator * Helicopter rotor, the rotary wing(s) of a rotorcraft ...

s (these were based on the rigid rotor system previously used on MBB's

), tailboom,

flight control A conventional fixed-wing aircraft flight control system consists of flight control surfaces, the respective cockpit controls, connecting linkages, and the necessary operating mechanisms to control an aircraft's direction in flight. Aircraft e ...

s and

hydraulic Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counter ...

system while Kawasaki undertook the development of the

landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Martin ...

airframe The mechanical structure of an aircraft is known as the airframe. This structure is typically considered to include the fuselage, undercarriage, empennage and wings, and excludes the propulsion system. Airframe design is a field of aerospa ...

, main transmission, electrical system and other minor components. Each company established their own final assembly line for the type, on which they produced the rotorcraft to meet demands within their respective local markets.''Air International'' April 1989, p. 164. An even more advanced derivative of the Bo 105, initially designated by MBB as the ''Bo 108'' begun development during the 1970s. The company developed it in partnership with France's

Aérospatiale Aérospatiale (), sometimes styled Aerospatiale, was a French state-owned aerospace manufacturer that built both civilian and military aircraft, rockets and satellites. It was originally known as Société nationale industrielle aérospatiale ( ...

; the Bo 108 was originally intended to be a technology demonstrator, combining attributes of the successful Bo 105 with new advances and an aerodynamically streamlined design.Pope, Stephen
"Eurocopter EC 135"
''Flying Magazine'', 18 May 2012.Benenson, Tom
"The EC135: Melding form & Function."
''Flying Magazine'', April 2004. Vol. 131, No. 4. pp. 86–91. Technologies included the first full-authority digital engine controls (

FADEC A full authority digital engine (or electronics) control (FADEC) is a system consisting of a digital computer, called an "electronic engine controller" (EEC) or "engine control unit" (ECU), and its related accessories that control all aspects of ai ...

) on a helicopter, a hingeless main rotor, and the adoption of a new transmission. First flown on 17 October 1988, a production version was introduced as the

Eurocopter EC135 The Eurocopter EC135 (now Airbus Helicopters H135) is a twin-engine civil light utility helicopter produced by Airbus Helicopters (formerly known as Eurocopter). It is capable of flight under instrument flight rules (IFR) and is outfitted with ...

during the early 1990s which, like its Bo 105 ancestor, achieved similar commercial success. Airbus A300B4-605R, Lufthansa AN0481981

Perhaps the most important partnership that MBB was involved in was the

. On 26 September 1967, the British, French, and West German governments signed a Memorandum of Understanding to start development of the A300.Simons 2014, p. 38.Endres 2004, p. 43.Pitt and Norsworthy 2012, p. 57. At this point, the A300 was only the second major joint aircraft programme in Europe, the first being 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 ...

. Under the terms of the memorandum, Britain and France were each to receive a 37.5 per cent work share on the project, while Germany received a 25 per cent share. France's

Sud Aviation Sud Aviation (, ''Southern Aviation'') was a French state-owned aircraft manufacturer, originating from the merger of Sud-Est (SNCASE, or ''Société nationale des constructions aéronautiques du sud-est'') and Sud-Ouest (SNCASO or ''Société n ...

was recognized as the lead company for A300, while

Hawker Siddeley 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 ...

was selected as the British partner company."Early days (1967–1969)."
''Airbus'', Retrieved: 28 February 2016. On 29 May 1969, during the

Paris Air Show The Paris Air Show (french: Salon international de l'aéronautique et de l'espace de Paris-Le Bourget, Salon du Bourget) is a trade fair and air show held in odd years at Paris–Le Bourget Airport in north Paris, France. Organized by the French ...

, French transport minister Jean Chamant and German economics minister

Karl Schiller Karl August Fritz Schiller (24 April 1911 – 26 December 1994) was a German economist and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). From 1966 to 1972, he was Federal Minister of Economic Affairs and from 1971 to 1972 Federal Minister o ...

signed an agreement officially launching the Airbus A300, the world's first twin-engine widebody airliner. The project intended to produce an aircraft that was smaller, lighter, and more economical than its three-engine American rivals, the

McDonnell 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, 1971, ...

and the

Lockheed L-1011 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 ...

."First order, first flight (1970–1972)."
''Airbus'', Retrieved: 28 February 2016. Shortly after the Paris Air Show agreement, it was decided that, to provide effective management of responsibilities, a

Groupement d'intérêt économique A (abbreviated ''GIE''; in English Economic Interest Grouping or Economic Interest Group, abbreviated ''EIG'') is a Francophone consortium of related businesses, companies, foundations, organisations or institutes which are formally pooling their ...

would be established, allowing the various partners to work together on the project while remaining separate business entities; this would be the origins of the Airbus Group. On 18 December 1970, Airbus Industrie was formally established following an agreement between

(the newly merged Sud Aviation and

Nord Aviation Nord-Aviation ( en, Northern Aviation) was a state-owned French aircraft manufacturer. The bulk of its facilities were based on the site of Bourges airport, in the département of Cher, in central France. On 1 October 1954, Nord Aviation was c ...

) of France and the antecedents to

Deutsche Aerospace ''Dasa'' ( sa, दास, Dāsa) is a Sanskrit word found in ancient Indian texts such as the ''Rigveda'' and ''Arthasastra''. It usually means "enemy" or "servant" but ''dasa'', or ''das'', also means a "servant of God", "devotee," " votary" or " ...

of Germany, each receiving a 50 per cent stake in the newly formed company.Simons 2014, p. 39.Bowen 2010, p. 50. On 15 March 1974,

type certificate A type certificate signifies the airworthiness of a particular category of aircraft, according to its manufacturing design (''type design''). It confirms that the aircraft of a new type intended for serial production, is in compliance with applica ...

s were granted for the A300 from both German and French authorities, clearing the way for its entry into revenue service. Ten years after the official launch of the A300, the company had achieved a 26 per cent market share in terms of dollar value, enabling Airbus Industries to proceed with the development of its second aircraft, the

Airbus A310 The Airbus A310 is a wide-body aircraft, designed and manufactured by Airbus Industrie, then a consortium of European aerospace manufacturers. Airbus had identified a demand for an aircraft smaller than the A300, the first twin-jet wide-bod ...

."Champagne ... and drought (1973–1977)."
''Airbus'', Retrieved: 28 February 2016. During 1981, MBB acquired rival company

Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke (VFW) was a West German aerospace manufacturer. The company was formed by the 1964 merger of two German aerospace firms, Focke-Wulf and Weser Flugzeugbau GmbH (Weserflug). The formation of VFW was a natural outco ...

(VFW), which itself had been formed via the merger of the aircraft manufacturers

Focke-Wulf Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau AG () was a German manufacturer of civil and military aircraft before and during World War II. Many of the company's successful fighter aircraft designs were slight modifications of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190. It is one of the ...

Focke-Achgelis Focke-Achgelis & Co. G.m.b.H. was a German helicopter company founded in 1937 by Henrich Focke and Gerd Achgelis. History Henrich Focke was ousted in 1936 from the Focke-Wulf company, which he had cofounded in 1924, due to shareholder pressure. ...

, and

Weserflug Weser Flugzeugbau GmbH, known as Weserflug, was an aircraft manufacturing company in Germany. History The company was founded in 1934 as a subsidiary of the ship and machine company Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG (DESCHIMAG). It began prod ...

. During the following year, MBB acquired the astronautics company

Entwicklungsring Nord The Entwicklungsring Nord (Northern development circle) - abbreviated ERNO - was a 1961 joint venture of Bremen-based Weserflug and Focke-Wulf with Hamburger Flugzeugbau to develop parts for rockets and get involved in space activities. Jet-powere ...

(ERNO; to reflect this change, the company was rebranded as ''MBB-ERNO''. In 1989, MBB was taken over by

(DASA), which was renamed "Daimler-Benz Aerospace" during 1995. Following the 1998 merger of German industrial group

Daimler Benz The Mercedes-Benz Group Aktiengesellschaft, AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German Multinational corporation, multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It ...

and the American company

Chrysler Corporation Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automoti ...

, the aerospace division was renamed

DaimlerChrysler Aerospace ''Dasa'' ( sa, दास, Dāsa) is a Sanskrit word found in ancient Indian texts such as the ''Rigveda'' and ''Arthasastra''. It usually means "enemy" or "servant" but ''dasa'', or ''das'', also means a "servant of God", "devotee," "votary" or "o ...

AG on 7 November 1998. As part of the prevailing trend of European defense consolidation of the late 1990s saw DASA being merged with

Aerospatiale-Matra Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: '' ...

of France and

Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA (CASA) was a Spanish aircraft manufacturer that was founded in 1923 and began manufacturing aircraft the following year. In 1999 it became a subsidiary of the EADS (European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company) ...

(CASA) of Spain to form the

European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: '' ...

(EADS) during 2000. The former assets of the DaimlerChrysler Aerospace, for the most part, presently operate as "Airbus Germany".Answers.com (n.d.)

Retrieved 22 March 2007.

Subsidiaries

* MBB-Liftsystems AG, which produces lifting systems for trucks and vans * MBB-Sondertechnik (today FHS Förder– und Hebesysteme GmbH), developed wind rotors in the 1980s and 1990s, and lifting systems for military use. * MBB Gelma GmbH, produces timekeeping units and machine control units (today owned by DORMA, DORMA KG) * MBB Group AG

Aircraft

* MBB Bo 102 * MBB Bo 103 *

* MBB Bo 106 * MBB Bo 108 - became the

Eurocopter EC 135 The Eurocopter EC135 (now Airbus Helicopters H135) is a twin-engine civil light utility helicopter produced by Airbus Helicopters (formerly known as Eurocopter). It is capable of flight under instrument flight rules (IFR) and is outfitted with ...

* MBB Bo 115 *

MBB Bo 209 The MBB Bo 209 Monsun (originally the Bolkow MHK-101) is a two-seat light aircraft that was developed in West Germany in the late 1960s. Design and development The Monsun was designed by three Bölkow engineers, led by Bölkow's technical dire ...

MBB 223 Flamingo The MBB 223 Flamingo was a light aircraft developed in West Germany in the 1960s in response to a competition for a standard trainer for the country's aeroclubs. Designed by SIAT, it was a conventional low-wing monoplane with fixed tricycle unde ...

* MBB/ Hamburger Flugzeugbau HFB-320 Hansa Jet * MBB F-104G/CCV (CCV Program)

Partnerships

Airbus A320 family The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first member of the famil ...

Eurofighter Typhoon The Eurofighter Typhoon is a European multinational twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter. The Typhoon was designed originally as an air-superiority fighter and is manufactured by a consortium of Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo ...

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 ...

Rockwell-MBB X-31 The Rockwell-Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm X-31 was an experimental jet fighter designed to test fighter thrust vectoring technology. It was designed and built by Rockwell and Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB), as part of a joint US and German '' ...

Transall C-160 The Transall C-160 is a military transport aircraft, produced as a joint venture between France and Germany. "Transall" is an abbreviation of the manufacturing consortium Transporter Allianz, comprising the companies of Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Bl ...

MPC 75 MPC 75 was an aircraft project of the company "MPC Aircraft GmbH" a subsidiary of "Deutsche Airbus". Work on the project was done mainly between 1988 and 1992 in Hamburg, Germany. Predevelopment work was finished, however the project never got ...

Missiles

* AS.34 Kormoran *

Cobra (missile) The Cobra was a Swiss/West German anti-tank missile designed by the Oerlikon-Contraves and Bölkow GmbH companies. It entered service with the German Army in the late 1950s. It was followed by the Cobra 2000 and Mamba missile systems, which were ...

Partnerships

HOT (missile) The HOT (French: ''Haut subsonique Optiquement Téléguidé Tiré d'un Tube'', or High Subsonic, Optical, Remote-Guided, Tube-Launched) is a second-generation long-range anti-tank missile system. It was originally developed to replace the older ...

MILAN Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

Roland (missile) The Roland is a Franco-German mobile short-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) system. The Roland was also purchased by the U.S. Army as one of very few foreign SAM systems. Development Roland was designed to a joint French and German requireme ...

Space hardware

Unmanned spacecraft

Helios (spacecraft) ''Helios-A'' and ''Helios-B'' (after launch renamed ' and ') are a pair of probes that were launched into heliocentric orbit to study solar processes. As a joint venture between German Aerospace Center (DLR) and NASA, the probes were launch ...

Symphonie The Symphonie satellites (2 satellites orbited) were the first communications satellites built by France and Germany (and the first to use three-axis stabilization in geostationary orbit with a bipropellant propulsion system) to provide geost ...

* EURECA

Manned spacecraft

Spacelab Spacelab was a reusable laboratory developed by European Space Agency (ESA) and used on certain spaceflights flown by the Space Shuttle. The laboratory comprised multiple components, including a pressurized module, an unpressurized carrier, ...

Saenger (spacecraft) Saenger or Sänger was a West German concept design for a two-stage-to-orbit spaceplane. It is named after Eugen Sänger, who had been a key figure in the development of the concept for aerospace company Junkers.Hallmann, Willi and Ley, W. (Eds.) ...

Other

MBTA The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network in ...

BTC-3 and CTC-3 *

DB Class 420 The Class 420 (german: Baureihe 420) is a commuter electric multiple unit train type in service on German S-Bahn networks since 1972. Their use in Munich during the 1972 Summer Olympics earned them the colloquial name (Olympic multiple unit). ...

commuter trains *DB

ICE 1 The ICE 1 is the first batch-produced German high-speed train and one of six in the Intercity Express family. Revenue service at speeds up to started in 1991. It was raised to in May 1995 and temporary reduced to again, as a result of ...

high-speed trains *Alpenflug, a

suspended roller coaster A suspended roller coaster is a type of steel roller coaster in which the car hangs from the bottom of the rolling stock by a pivoting fulcrum or hinge assembly. This allows the car and riders to swing side to side as the train races along the ...

File:Db-420414-00.jpg, DB Class 420 commuter trainsets in Stuttgart File:Hugh llewelyn 401 566 (5954451934).jpg, DB ICE 1 (Class 401) high-speed trainset in Munich File:MBB Cab Car (2210073028).jpg, MBTA CTC-3 cab car at Ruggles station

References

Citations

General sources

* "BK 117...a Terrestrial Space Ship". ''

Air International ''AIR International'' is a British aviation magazine covering current defence aerospace and civil aviation topics. It has been in publication since 1971 and is currently published by Key Publishing Ltd. History and profile The magazine was fir ...

'', Vol. 36, No. 4, April 1989. Bromley, UK: Fine Scroll. . pp. 163–170. * Bowen, John T. ''The Economic Geography of Air Transportation: Space, Time, and the Freedom of the Sky''. Business & Economics, 2010. . * * * McCellan, J. Mac
"Paramedic"
''

Flying Flying may refer to: * Flight, the process of flying * Aviation, the creation and operation of aircraft Music Albums * ''Flying'' (Grammatrain album), 1997 * ''Flying'' (Jonathan Fagerlund album), 2008 * ''Flying'' (UFO album), 1971 * ''Fl ...

'', February 1986. Vol. 113, No. 2. pp. 62–67. . * Pitt, Ivan L. and John Randolph Norsworthy. ''Economics of the U.S. Commercial Airline Industry: Productivity, Technology and Deregulation''. Springer, 2012. . * Senguttuvan, P. S. ''Fundamentals of Air Transport Management''. Excel Books India, 2006. . * Simons, Graham. ''The Airbus A380: A History''. Pen and Sword, 2014. .

External links

Airbus Group

MBB Industries AG

MBB Group AG

MBB Projects GmbH

MBB Palfinger GmbH

MBB KOMET, the first high-speed maglev

{{DEFAULTSORT:Messerschmitt-Bolkow-Blohm Aerospace companies of Germany Aircraft manufacturers of Germany Companies based in Bavaria Defence companies of Germany Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of Germany Helicopter manufacturers of Germany Messerschmitt