Thomson Marconi Sonar or TMS was formed in 1996 by the merger of the

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect objects on o ...

systems businesses of French defence electronics specialist

Thomson-CSF Thomson-CSF was a French company that specialized in the development and manufacture of electronics with a heavy focus upon the aerospace and defence sectors of the market. Thomson-CSF was formed in 1968 following the merger of Thomson-Houst ...

and British company GEC-Marconi after the payment of a balance by the latter. The new company was 50.1% owned by Thomson-CSF and 49.9% by GEC-Marconi.

Denis Ranque Denis Ranque (born 7 January 1952 in Marseille) is a French engineer and businessman who served as CEO and chairman of Thales Group from 1998 until 2009. Career In 1976, Denis Ranque began his career as an engineer of the Corps des mines at the M ...

was appointed as its CEO. The new company would head 3 operational entities: * The French entity, Thomson Sintra (based in

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France ** Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...

and

Sophia Antipolis (wisdom), gr, (Ἀντίπολις, antipolis) ("opposite city" from its position on the opposite side of the Var estuary from Nice, also former name of Antibes, part of the technology park) , postal_code = 06220 (Vallauris), 06250 (Mo ...

), was brought in by Thomson-CSF. It was the European leader in defence-related sonar systems and the world's second after Lockheed Martin Loral, with annual sales of 1.5 billion

francs The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th centu ...

, split between submarine sonars (35%), anti-submarine warfare systems or ASM (27%), mine warfare (15%) and airborne sonars (18%). * The British entity was made up of GEC-Marconi's sonar division, which had annual sales of 90 million pounds (700 million francs) as well as a company already co-owned by it and Thomson-CSF called Ferranti Thomson Sonar Systems (with about 400 million francs in sales). * A third entity in Australia, called TMS Pty, was composed of the two groups' establishments operating in the sector. With the merger of GEC's defence business

Marconi Electronic Systems Marconi Electronic Systems (MES), or GEC-Marconi as it was until 1998, was the defence arm of General Electric Company (GEC). It was demerged from GEC and bought by British Aerospace (BAe) on 30 November 1999 to form BAE Systems. GEC then renam ...

and

British Aerospace British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. Formed in 1977, in 1999 it purchased Marcon ...

in 1999, the resulting BAE Systems acquired Marconi's 49.9% share in TMS. BAE, through an options agreement, forced Thomson-CSF (now called

Thales Thales of Miletus ( ; grc-gre, Θαλῆς; ) was a Greek mathematician, astronomer, statesman, and pre-Socratic philosopher from Miletus in Ionia, Asia Minor. He was one of the Seven Sages of Greece. Many, most notably Aristotle, regarded ...

) to purchase its stake in 2001. The company therefore became entirely owned by Thales and was renamed

Thales Underwater Systems Thales Underwater Systems or TUS (formerly Thomson Sintra ASM, Thomson CSF DASM and then Thomson Marconi Sonar) is a subsidiary of the French defense electronics specialist Thales Group. It was created in 2001 and belongs to its naval division. It ...

Products

*Submarine sonar and surface ship sonar *Minehunter sonar *Airborne acoustic processors and dipping sonars (helicopter applications) *Sonar support systems and trainers *Communication systems

References

Companies based in Stockport Defunct manufacturing companies of France General Electric Company Sonar manufacturers Defunct manufacturing companies of England {{Tech-company-stub