SPARTA Inc. AESO, A Parsons Company, (For a short time known as Cobham Analytic Solutions) is a United States

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 se ...

based in Lake Forest, California. It was started in 1979 and has more than 20 offices around the United States. The acronym, SPARTA, stood for "Systems Planning Analysis Research and Technology Associates." Prior to its acquisition by

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 ...

, SPARTA was unusual for a U.S. defense contractor in that it was publicly held but privately traded; it was more than 98% owned by its 1,300 employees. Employees were granted stock options based on various criteria, including corporate profit and individual contribution to bringing in new business. Employees could sell stock back to the company when their options vested, at a price determined by a formula for valuing the company. Prior to the acquisition, some benefits and company procedures were decided upon by a council of employees which met annually. Slightly fewer than one third of the representatives to the council were elected by the employees. In June 2008, SPARTA was acquired by

for US$407 million. It was renamed Cobham Analytic Solutions while under Cobham management. In 2011, SPARTA, with the exception of the composites manufacturing portion of the company, was sold by

Parsons Corporation Parsons Corporation (Parsons) is an American technology-focused defense, intelligence, security, and infrastructure engineering firm headquartered in Centreville, Virginia. The company was founded in 1944. Parsons has more than 16,000 employees ...

for US$350 million."Parsons makes $350M deal to pull services unit out of Cobham"
Washington Technology Article, 19 October 2011

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SPARTA, Inc.
Defense companies of the United States Employee-owned companies of the United States Companies based in Lake Forest, California {{US-manufacturing-company-stub