Armor Holdings, Inc. was an American manufacturer of military, law enforcement, and personnel safety equipment. It was acquired by BAE Systems on July 31, 2007 and renamed BAE Systems Mobility & Protection Systems. The divisions have been reorganised within BAE Systems Land and Armaments.

History

Armor Holdings was founded in 1969 as American Body Armor and Equipment, Inc.Armor Holdings, Inc. -- Company Profile
/ref> at Jacksonville, Florida. In January 1996 the company underwent a change in control; Kanders Florida Holdings, Inc. and others purchased the stock held by the company's two largest shareholders. The Armor Holdings, Inc. name was adopted on August 21, 1996. It acquired Fairfield, Ohio-based

O'Gara-Hess & Eisenhardt Centigon is a division of the Centigon Security Group. The company traces its roots back to coach builder Sayers & Scovill, later Hess & Eisenhardt and then O'Gara-Hess & Eisenhardt. In 2001, the company became part of Armor Holdings, Inc a provide ...

in 2001 and renamed it Centigon. In 2003, it acquired Simula, Inc. a developer and producer of

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 ...

seating systems, the Cockpit

Air Bag An airbag is a vehicle occupant-restraint system using a bag designed to inflate extremely quickly, then quickly deflate during a Traffic collision, collision. It consists of the airbag cushion, a flexible fabric bag, an inflation module, and a ...

System (CABS) for US Army helicopters, the Small Arms Protective Insert (SAPI) armor system, and parachutes. Simula developed and produced the first

crashworthy Crashworthiness is the ability of a structure to protect its occupants during an impact. This is commonly tested when investigating the safety of aircraft and vehicles. Depending on the nature of the impact and the vehicle involved, different crit ...

armored crew seats for the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

UH-60 Black Hawk and AH-64 Apache

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

s. On August 2, 2005, Armor Holdings acquired Second Chance, a

body armor Body armor, also known as body armour, personal armor or armour, or a suit or coat of armor, is protective clothing designed to absorb or deflect physical attacks. Historically used to protect military personnel, today it is also used by variou ...

manufacturing company, for $45 million. In 2006, Armor Holdings obtained a $649 million order for the U.S. Army to manufacture tactical vehicle trucks. In this same year it acquired the vehicle division of

Stewart & Stevenson Stewart & Stevenson is a manufacturer and distributor of products and services for the oil and gas, marine, construction, power generation, transportation, mining and agricultural industries. History In 1902, Stewart & Stevenson originated in Ho ...

, which originally built the tactical vehicle truck for the Army.

BAE acquisition

On May 7, 2007

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company based in London, England. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe, and ranked the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenues. ...

announced its subsidiary

BAE Systems Inc. BAE Systems Inc. (formerly BAE Systems North America) is an American subsidiary of British defense, security, and aerospace company BAE Systems plc. The American subsidiary operates under a Special Security Agreement which allows it to work o ...

was to purchase Armor Holdings for

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

4.1 billion (US$4.5 billion including net debt). The acquisition was completed on July 31, 2007. Armor Holdings' three business units; Aerospace & Defense Group, the Products Group and the Mobile Security Division were merged into BAE Systems as Mobility & Protection Systems, BAE Systems Products Group, and BAE Systems Mobile Security respectively.

Products

Its products include the Caiman MRAP vehicle,

Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles The Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) is a series of military vehicles that are based on a common chassis and vary by payload and mission requirements. The FMTV is derived from the Austrian Steyr 12M18 truck, but substantially m ...

(FMTV), the Pinzgauer High Mobility All-Terrain Vehicle, as well as armor kits and components for the

HMMWV The High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV; colloquial: Humvee) is a family of light, four-wheel drive, military trucks and utility vehicles produced by AM General. It has largely supplanted the roles previously performed by the ori ...

and Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement (MTVR) (through subcontractor,

Plasan Sasa Plasan ( he, פלסן) (incorporated as Plasan Sasa Ltd. and formerly as Plasan Sasa (ACS) Ltd.) is an Israeli based vehicle manufacturer. History Plasan Sasa, established in 1985, develops, manufactures, and assembles custom-built vehicle armo ...

). It also produces the majority of the

's MOLLE equipment. It delivered its Maneuver Sustainment Vehicle (MSV) to US Army for evaluation in Future Tactical Truck System competition, along with

Navistar International Navistar, Inc is an American holding company created in 1986 as the successor to International Harvester. Navistar operates as the owner of International-branded trucks and diesel engines. The company also produces buses under the IC Bus br ...

and

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace, arms, defense, information security, and technology corporation with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It ...

Zylon Body Armor Settlement

On October 7, 2008, the US Department of Justice announced a $30 million settlement with Armor Holdings Products LLC over claims that Armor Holdings knowingly violated the Federal False Claims Act by selling defective

Zylon Zylon (IUPAC name: poly(''p''-phenylene-2,6-benzobisoxazole)) is a trademarked name for a range of thermoset liquid-crystalline polyoxazole. This synthetic polymer material was invented and developed by SRI International in the 1980s and manufact ...

body armor to the government. This is part of a larger investigation of Zylon armor by the DOJ and the military.

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

Official Website
Defense companies of the United States BAE Systems subsidiaries and divisions Manufacturing companies based in Jacksonville, Florida American companies established in 1969 Manufacturing companies established in 1969 1969 establishments in Florida 2007 mergers and acquisitions American subsidiaries of foreign companies Defunct manufacturing companies based in Florida Military vehicle manufacturers