Jane's Information Group, now styled Janes, is a global open-source intelligence company specialising in

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

national security National security, or national defence, is the security and defence of a sovereign state, including its citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government. Originally conceived as protection against military att ...

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and ast ...

and transport topics, whose name derives from British author Fred T. Jane.

History

Jane's Information Group was founded in 1898 by Fred T. Jane, who had begun sketching ships as an enthusiast naval artist while living in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most d ...

. This gradually developed into an encyclopedic knowledge, culminating in the publishing of ''All the World's Fighting Ships'' (1898). The company then gradually branched out into other areas of military expertise. The books and

trade magazine A trade magazine, also called a trade journal or trade paper (colloquially or disparagingly a trade rag), is a magazine or newspaper whose target audience is people who work in a particular trade or industry. The collective term for t ...

s published by the company are often considered the ''de facto'' public source of information on warfare and transportation systems. Based in

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness Greatness is a concept of a state of superiority affecting a person or object in a particular place or area. Greatness can also be attributed to individuals who possess a natural ability to be better than al ...

for most of its existence, the group was owned by the

Thomson Corporation The Thomson Corporation was one of the world's largest information companies. It was established in 1989 following a merger between International Thomson Organisation Ltd (ITOL) and Thomson Newspapers. In 2008, it purchased Reuters Group to fo ...

The Woodbridge Company The Woodbridge Company Limited is a Canadian private holding company based in Toronto, Ontario. It is the primary investment vehicle for members of the family of the late Roy Thomson, the first Baron Thomson of Fleet. David Binet has been the ...

, then

IHS Markit IHS Markit Ltd was an information services provider that completed a merger with S&P Global in 2022. Headquartered in London, it was formed in 2016 with the merger of IHS Inc. and Markit Ltd. History IHS Information Handling Services (IHS) "was ...

, before being acquired by Montagu Private Equity in 2019.

Description

The company name is officially Jane's Information Group, and it is located in

Coulsdon Coulsdon (, traditionally pronounced ) is a town in south London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon, in the ceremonial county of Greater London since 1965. Prior to this it was part of the historic county of Surrey. History The loc ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

. The company continues to provide open-source intelligence in the defence, security, aerospace and transport sectors.

Publications

Of their publications, books (published annually) include '' Jane's All the World's Aircraft'', ''

Jane's Fighting Ships ''Jane's Fighting Ships'' by Janes Information Services is an annual reference book of information on all the world's warships arranged by nation, including information on ships' names, dimensions, armaments, silhouettes and photographs, etc. Ea ...

'', '' Jane's Military Communications'', ''Jane's World Air Forces'',IHS Web site
/ref> ''Jane's World Navies'', and '' Jane's World Railways''. Periodicals include ''

Jane's Defence Weekly ''Jane's Defence Weekly'' (abbreviated as ''JDW'') is a weekly magazine reporting on military and corporate affairs, edited by Peter Felstead. It is one of a number of military-related publications named after John F. T. Jane, an Englishman who ...

'', ''

Jane's Intelligence Review ''Jane's Intelligence Review'' is a monthly journal on global security and stability issues published by Jane's Information Group. Its coverage includes international security issues, state stability, terrorism and insurgency, ongoing conflicts, ...

'', '' Jane's International Defence Review'', and '' Jane's Navy International''. '' Jane's Police Review'' (2011) and '' Jane's Airport Review'' (2015) were discontinued. Jane's ''

All the World's Aircraft ''Jane's All the World's Aircraft'' (now stylized Janes) is an aviation annual publication founded by John Frederick Thomas Jane in 1909. Long issued by Sampson Low, Marston in Britain (with various publishers in the U.S.), it has been published ...

'' and '' Fighting Ships'' are included in the 2019 edition of the

AP stylebook The ''AP Stylebook'', also known by its full name ''The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law'', is an American English grammar style and usage guide created by American journalists working for or connected with the Associated Pr ...

as references for proper notation of aircraft and military ship names. Jane's Combat Simulations was a brand of computer flight simulation games and naval warfare simulations produced between 1996 and 2000 under license to

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the ...

. Major periodical competitors include ''

Defense News ''Defense News'' is a website and newspaper about the politics, business, and technology of national security published by Sightline Media Group. Founded in 1986, ''Defense News'' serves an audience of senior military, government, and industry d ...

'', ''

Flight International ''Flight International'' is a monthly magazine focused on aerospace. Published in the United Kingdom and founded in 1909 as "A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport", it is the world's olde ...

'', ''

Aviation Week & Space Technology ''Aviation Week & Space Technology'', often abbreviated ''Aviation Week'' or ''AW&ST'', is the flagship magazine of the Aviation Week Network. The weekly magazine is available in print and online, reporting on the aerospace, defense and aviatio ...

'' and the Shephard Group.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1898 establishments in England Publishing companies established in 1898 Intelligence websites Mass media companies based in London Open-source intelligence Publishing companies of the United Kingdom Rail transport publishing companies Reference publishers