United Defense Industries (UDI) was an American

defense contractor The arms industry, also known as the arms trade, is a global industry which manufactures and sells weapons and military technology. It consists of a commercial industry involved in the research and development, engineering, production, and serv ...

which became part of

BAE Systems Land & 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 ...

after being acquired by

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. ...

in 2005. The company produced

combat vehicle A combat vehicle, also known as a ground combat vehicle, is a self-propelled, weaponized military vehicle used for combat operations in mechanized warfare. Combat vehicles can be wheeled or tracked. History Ancient The chariot is a type o ...

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

naval gun Naval artillery is artillery mounted on a warship, originally used only for naval warfare and then subsequently used for naval gunfire support, shore bombardment and anti-aircraft roles. The term generally refers to tube-launched projectile-firi ...

missile launchers A rocket launcher is a weapon that launches an unguided, rocket-propelled projectile. History The earliest rocket launchers documented in imperial China consisted of arrows modified by the attachment of a rocket motor to the shaft a few in ...

and precision munitions.

History

The company started as a division of the agricultural machine business,

Food Machinery Corporation FMC Corporation is an American chemical manufacturing company headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which originated as an insecticide producer in 1883 and later diversified into other industries. In 1941 at the beginning of US involvemen ...

(FMC), when they won a

US Federal Government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fed ...

contract to build the

Landing Vehicle Tracked The Amphibious Vehicle, Tracked (LVT) is an amphibious warfare vehicle and amphibious landing craft, introduced by the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps. (The USN and USMC use "L" to designate Amphibious vessels, also c ...

(LVT) and became a weapon manufacturer during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Bowen McLaughlin York (BMY), which became the BMY division of

Harsco Corporation Harsco Corporation is a global industrial company based in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. Harsco operates in 30 countries and employs approximately 11,000 people worldwide. The company provides industrial services and engineered products that serve ...

, soon added aircraft and tanks to its growing munitions capability, further adding to the firm's diversified economic success and defense specialization. Following a massive decline in orders for tracked combat vehicles between 1983 and 1994 FMC and the Harsco Corporation agreed in January 1994 to combine their defense businesses to form United Defense. The new company owned the former FMC

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

-based Ground Systems Division and Harsco's

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

-based BMY Combat Systems Division. The new company restructured its operations to concentrate final assembly and testing to Pennsylvania.Defense Contractor Restructuring
. www.fas.org. Retrieved May 22, 2006 In September 2000, UDI purchased Bofors Weapon Systems AB of Sweden, subsequently renamed Bofors Defence. In 1997 UDI was subject to a takeover bids by rival General Dynamics and

The Carlyle Group The Carlyle Group is a multinational private equity, alternative asset management and financial services corporation based in the United States with $376 billion of assets under management. It specializes in private equity, real assets, and pri ...

. It chose the lowest bid from private equity firm The Carlyle Group, which floated the company in 2001 but retained a share of the company.

BAE Systems acquisition

On March 7, 2005 UK-based defence contractor

announced it was to acquire UDI for US$3.974 billion (£2.1 billion). This followed expressions of interest from companies including

Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense technology company. With 90,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military techn ...

. BAE Systems' bid was referred to the

Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS, commonly pronounced "Cifius" ) is an inter-agency committee of the United States government that reviews the national security implications of foreign investments in U.S. compani ...

(CFIUS) to ensure there were no national security implications of the sale. The CFIUS granted approval of the deal in April 2005. BAE completed its acquisition of United Defense on June 24, 2005 and announced plans to merge the company with its existing land systems businesses to form

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 ...

Products

United Defense products included: *

Advanced Gun System The Advanced Gun System (AGS) is a naval artillery system developed and produced by BAE Systems Armaments & Services for the ''Zumwalt''-class destroyer of the United States Navy. Designated the 155 mm/62 (6.1") Mark 51 Advanced Gun System (AG ...

(AGS) for next generation

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

surface combatants *

Future Combat Systems Manned Ground Vehicles The Manned Ground Vehicles (MGV) was a family of lighter and more transportable ground vehicles developed by BAE Systems and General Dynamics as part of the U.S. Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program. The MGV program was intended as a succes ...

family of light armored ground vehicles *

M2 Bradley The M2 Bradley, or Bradley IFV, is an American infantry fighting vehicle that is a member of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle family. It is manufactured by BAE Systems Land & Armaments, which was formerly United Defense. The Bradley is designed ...

Infantry Fighting Vehicle An infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), also known as a mechanized infantry combat vehicle (MICV), is a type of armoured fighting vehicle used to carry infantry into battle and provide direct-fire support. The 1990 Treaty on Conventional Armed Forc ...

M3 Bradley The M3 Bradley Cavalry Fighting Vehicle (CFV) is an American tracked armored reconnaissance vehicle manufactured by BAE Systems Land and Armaments (formerly United Defense). A member of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle family, the M3 CFV is used by ...

Cavalry fighting vehicle *

M8 Armored Gun System The M8 Armored Gun System (AGS), sometimes known as the Buford, is an American light tank that was intended to replace the M551 Sheridan and TOW missile-armed Humvees in the 82nd Airborne Division and 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment (2nd ACR) of ...

, U.S. Army light tank canceled in 1996 *

M88 Hercules The M88 Recovery Vehicle is one of the largest armored recovery vehicles (ARV) in use by United States Armed Forces. There are three variants, the ''M88'', ''M88A1'' and ''M88A2'' HERCULES (Heavy Equipment Recovery Combat Utility Lifting Extract ...

armored recovery vehicle *

M109 Paladin The M109 is an American 155 mm turreted self-propelled howitzer, first introduced in the early 1960s to replace the M44. It has been upgraded a number of times, most recently to the M109A7. The M109 family is the most common Western indirect-fi ...

* M113 family * Mobile Tactical Vehicle Light, a vehicle based on the M113 proposed for the U.S. Army

Interim Armored Vehicle The Interim Armored Vehicle (IAV) was a U.S. Army armored fighting vehicle acquisition program. General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) and General Motors Defense proposed a vehicle based on the LAV III. The Army selected the LAV III proposal over t ...

program * Crusader *

Mark 41 Vertical Launching System The Mark 41 Vertical Launching System (Mk 41 VLS) is a shipborne missile canister launching system which provides a rapid-fire launch capability against hostile threats. The Vertical Launch System (VLS) concept was derived from work on the Aegis C ...

(VLS) * 5-54 Mark 45 and 62 caliber lightweight naval gun * Anti-aircraft gun L60

References

External links

United Defense Industries websiteBAE Systems website
*IPO from CNN Money
United Defense raises $400M
*

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

BAE Systems to buy US rival UDIbusinesswire.com: CFIUS Approval for Proposed Acquisition by BAE Systems
{{BAE Systems Defense companies of the United States Defunct manufacturing companies based in Virginia United Defense