Fairchild Systems was a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

defense contractor which is now part of

BAE Systems Electronics, Intelligence & Support BAE Systems Electronic Systems (ES) is one of three operating groups of BAE Systems Inc., the North American subsidiary of the British global defence contractor BAE Systems PLC. History BAE Systems acquired Lockheed Martin Aerospace Electronic ...

. A descendant of Fairchild Camera and Instrument, the

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...

described Fairchild Systems as "one of the legendary names of Silicon Valley" and that in "the late 1960s, ts Bay Area operations were the training ground for the engineers who went on to found Intel and other top semiconductor companies."

History

Fairchild Weston Systems was acquired by

Loral Corporation Loral Corporation was a defense contractor founded in 1948 in New York by William Lorenz and Leon Alpert as Loral Electronics Corporation. The company's name was taken from the first letters of each founder's surname. History Loral Corporation or ...

in mid-1989. The group was renamed as the Loral Fairchild Systems divisions of Loral Corp. On 22 April 1996 Lockheed Martin completed the acquisition of

's defense electronics and system integration businesses, which included Fairchild, for $9.1 billion. The company became Lockheed Fairchild Systems. In 2000 Lockheed Martin grouped Fairchild with

Sanders Associates Sanders Associates was a defense contractor in Nashua, New Hampshire, United States, from 1951 until it was sold in 1986. It is now part of BAE Systems Electronics & Integrated Solutions, a subsidiary of BAE Systems. It concentrated on developin ...

and Lockheed Martin Space Electronics & Communications under the

Lockheed Martin Aerospace Electronic Systems BAE Systems Electronic Systems (ES) is one of three operating groups of BAE Systems Inc., the North American subsidiary of the British global defence contractor BAE Systems PLC. History BAE Systems acquired Lockheed Martin Aerospace Electronic ...

division. BAE Systems agreed to acquire the division in July 2000 and completed its acquisition on 27 November.

References

{{reflist Electronics companies of the United States Defense companies of the United States Technology companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area Technology companies established in 1982 Technology companies disestablished in 2000 1982 establishments in California 2000 disestablishments in California BAE Systems subsidiaries and divisions Defunct companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area