Cobham Technical Services (the trading name of Cobham CTS Ltd) is a UK-based

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and Reproducibility, reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in me ...

organisation founded in 1920. It sells products for terrestrial and

satellite communications A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth. ...

navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, ...

and sensor applications; technical services and specialised systems for

high-voltage High voltage electricity refers to electrical potential large enough to cause injury or damage. In certain industries, ''high voltage'' refers to voltage above a certain threshold. Equipment and Electrical conductor, conductors that carry high ...

and lightning testing;

electromagnetic In physics, electromagnetism is an interaction that occurs between particles with electric charge. It is the second-strongest of the four fundamental interactions, after the strong force, and it is the dominant force in the interactions o ...

and

multiphysics In computational modelling, multiphysics simulation (often shortened to simply "multiphysics") is defined as the simultaneous simulation of different aspects of a physical system or systems and the interactions among them. For example, simultaneous ...

simulation

software products Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...

History

The history of Cobham Technical Services dates back to 1920 with the incorporation of the British Electrical and Allied Industries Research Association, which became generally known as the ''Electrical Research Association'', or ERA. Initially, ERA’s funding came jointly from government, through the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, from industry, and from the subscriptions of member companies. During the 1939-1945 war, direct assistance to the war effort was given by ERA, having been recognised by the

Ministry of Labour The Ministry of Labour ('' UK''), or Labor ('' US''), also known as the Department of Labour, or Labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, a ...

in 1941 as an "essential undertaking". Activities during the war included working on the development of radar and mine detection equipment. Major new laboratories and offices were opened in

Leatherhead Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley District of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxon period, Leathe ...

, Surrey in 1957 which have remained the principal location of the organisation ever since. Development on the 15-acre campus site has continued to the present day with the addition of several large purpose-built facilities. In September 1979 ERA formally changed its name from The Electrical Research Association Ltd to ERA Technology Ltd. During the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s ERA expanded into new research areas, including RF technology and electronic systems. In January 2001, the entire organisation was transferred to a new trading company, limited by shares. The original company, still limited by guarantee, was renamed The ERA Foundation. The trading operation, retaining the name ERA Technology, was run as a wholly commercial enterprise, responsible to its shareholders. In September 2003, the company announced the agreement to sell the entire issued share capital of ERA Technology to

Cobham plc Cobham Limited is a British aerospace manufacturing company based in Bournemouth, England. Cobham was originally founded by Sir Alan Cobham as Flight Refuelling Limited (FRL) in 1934. During 1939, British airline Imperial Airways performed s ...

. In March 2009, ERA Technology, Culham Lightning and Vector Fields assumed the collective trading name Cobham Technical Services as part of a Group wide rebranding programme by

FTSE 100 The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie" , is a share index of the 100 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange with (in principle) the highest market ...

parent company

. In March 2011, Cobham plc completed the divestment of the engineering consultancy group of Cobham Technical Services to edif Group, which took the legal entity name “ERA Technology Ltd”.

References

External links

Cobham Technical Services homepage (on Cobham plc corporate website)

ERA Foundation website
{{Authority control Aircraft component manufacturers of the United Kingdom Companies based in Surrey Mole Valley Science and technology in Surrey Technology companies established in 1920 1920 establishments in England