Cobham Limited is a British aerospace manufacturing company based in

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

, England. Cobham was originally founded by Sir

Alan Cobham Sir Alan John Cobham, KBE, AFC (6 May 1894 – 21 October 1973) was an English aviation pioneer. Early life As a child he attended Wilson's School, which was then in Camberwell, London. The school was relocated to the former site of ...

as Flight Refuelling Limited (FRL) in 1934. During 1939, British airline

Imperial Airways Imperial Airways was an early British commercial long-range airline, operating from 1924 to 1939 and principally serving the British Empire routes to South Africa, India, Australia and the Far East, including Malaya and Hong Kong. Passengers ...

performed several non-stop crossings of the Atlantic using equipment provided by FRL. During the late 1940s, the company's aerial refuelling equipment broke new ground, including a round-the-world flight by specially-equipped

Boeing B-50 Superfortress The Boeing B-50 Superfortress is a retired American strategic bomber. A post–World War II revision of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, it was fitted with more powerful Pratt & Whitney R-4360 radial engines, stronger structure, a taller tail fin ...

es in 1948 and the demonstration of the now-widely used 'probe and drogue' method of air-to-air refuelling for the first time in 1949. A wide range of aircraft have since been equipped with Cobham's refuelling equipment. The company has grown and diversified into various markets, often through acquisitions. Michael Cobham, Alan's son, took over its leadership during 1969. During 1994, the firm was formally renamed Cobham plc; by this point, the company had in excess of 10,000 employees and had operations in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. In January 2020, the company was acquired by American

private equity firm A private equity firm or private equity company (often described as a financial sponsor) is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of a Startup company, startup or of an existin ...

Advent International Advent International Corporation is an American global private equity firm. It is focused on buyouts of companies in Western and Central Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia. The firm focuses on international buyouts, growth and strat ...

for £4 billion and Cobham Mission Systems was sold to Eaton in June 2021 for $2.83 billion.

History

Formation and early activities

During the 1920s and 1930s,

aerial refuelling Aerial refueling ( en-us), or aerial refuelling ( en-gb), also referred to as air refueling, in-flight refueling (IFR), air-to-air refueling (AAR), and tanking, is the process of transferring aviation fuel from one aircraft (the tanker) to ano ...

of aircraft in mid-flight was performed only on an experimental basis, typically for attempts to set new flight endurance records. In this era,

became an accomplished pilot, winning multiple air races as well as the

de Havilland The de Havilland Aircraft Company Limited (pronounced , ) was a British aviation manufacturer established in late 1920 by Geoffrey de Havilland at Stag Lane Aerodrome Edgware on the outskirts of North London. Operations were later moved to ...

aircraft company appointing him as their senior pilot. Alan decided to leave de Havilland to pursue his own ventures, including the formation of an aerobatic troupe and a small airline; he embarked on a long term campaign to popularise commercial air travel, making efforts to secure both public and the British Government's backing for the sector. IFR Canberra

Alan believed that practical in-flight refuelling techniques would revolutionise commercial airlines and enable new long distance air routes; however, development work later focused largely upon its military applications. Accordingly, he founded a new company, known as Flight Refuelling Limited (FRL), in 1934. The company was initially headquartered at RAF Ford in

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

. During 1939, the company played a role in several non-stop crossings of the Atlantic performed by British airline

; however, it would be the adoption of aerial refuelling by the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

during the initial

post-war A post-war or postwar period is the interval immediately following the end of a war. The term usually refers to a varying period of time after World War II, which ended in 1945. A post-war period can become an interwar period or interbellum, ...

years that would perhaps most prominently highlight the technology's value. During 1947, the company relocated to Tarrant Rushton in

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

. The company developed the 'probe and drogue' method of air-to-air refuelling in 1949. The

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

(RAF) would soon adopt the probe-and-drogue approach, as would various other international customers. Cobham's air-to-air refuelling system was perhaps most crucially used during the

Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...

of 1982, being used to facilitate the long-distance sorties of the RAF's

Avro Vulcan The Avro Vulcan (later Hawker Siddeley Vulcan from July 1963) was a jet-powered, tailless, delta-wing, high-altitude, strategic bomber, which was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) from 1956 until 1984. Aircraft manufacturer A.V. Roe ...

bombers for

Operation Black Buck Operations Black Buck 1 to Black Buck 7 were seven extremely long-range airstrikes conducted during the 1982 Falklands War by Royal Air Force (RAF) Vulcan bombers of the RAF Waddington Wing, comprising aircraft from 44, 50 and 101 Squad ...

, successfully reaching and bombing the

Argentinian Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

-held airfield at

Port Stanley Stanley (also known as Port Stanley) is the capital city of the Falkland Islands. It is located on the island of East Falkland, on a north-facing slope in one of the wettest parts of the islands. At the 2016 census, the city had a population o ...

on the islands. During 1954, Michael Cobham, Alan's son, took a role in the company; he soon began to steer Cobham to diversify into new markets. One such venture was the reorganising of Cobham Group's Airfield Services division into the newly incorporated FR Aviation, which saw contractor-owned and operated aircraft operate directly alongside military customers. Communications and electronics were other key sectors of interest. During 1969, Michael took over the leadership of the business from Alan; he remained as Cobham's chairman and chief executive through to the mid 1990s. In 1963, the firm centred its manufacturing activity at its new site in

Ashington Ashington is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, with a population of 27,864 at the 2011 Census. It was once a centre of the coal mining industry. The town is north of Newcastle upon Tyne, west of the A189 and bordered to the ...

Wimborne Wimborne Minster (often referred to as Wimborne, ) is a market town in Dorset in South West England, and the name of the Church of England church in that town. It lies at the confluence of the River Stour and the River Allen, north of Pool ...

in Dorset. During 1985, Cohbam became a

public limited company A public limited company (legally abbreviated to PLC or plc) is a type of public company under United Kingdom company law, some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth jurisdictions, and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is a limited liability co ...

; despite the stock flotation, the Cobham family retained a large stake in the business. As a consequence of various acquisitions and internal growth, Cobham developed various product lines across the aerospace market for both civilian and military, and thus its in-flight refuelling technology became a relatively small element of Cobham's portfolio over time. In 1994, the firm was formally renamed Cobham plc. By this time, the company had in excess of 10,000 employees and had operations present in

and

Sales and acquisitions

In September 1997, Cobham acquired ML Aviation for £37 million, which had taken over

Nash & Thompson Nash & Thompson was a British engineering firm that developed and produced hydraulically operated gun turrets for aircraft. As part of Parnall Aircraft it was also an important manufacturer of hydraulic-powered radar scanners used on radar sys ...

, a major competitor, the previous year. In early 2008, Cobham purchased S-TEC Corporation, maker of general aviation autopilots, for $38 million; during February 2008, the company also bought the

sensor A sensor is often defined as a device that receives and responds to a signal or stimulus. The stimulus is the quantity, property, or condition that is sensed and converted into electrical signal. In the broadest definition, a sensor is a devi ...

and antenna systems division of

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Aerospace industry, aerospace, military technology, military and information security company, based in London. It is the largest manufacturer in Britain as of 2017. It is ...

for $240 million. In June 2008, Cobham acquired Sparta Inc., a US defence business, for $416 million (it was renamed Cobham Analytic Solutions). In September 2008 Cobham completed the purchase of the

radio frequency Radio frequency (RF) is the oscillation rate of an alternating electric current or voltage or of a magnetic, electric or electromagnetic field or mechanical system in the frequency range from around to around . This is roughly between the u ...

components business of M/A-COM for $425 million. In April 2009, Cobham agreed to purchase Argotek Inc., a provider of high-end

information assurance Information assurance (IA) is the practice of assuring information and managing risks related to the use, processing, storage, and data transmission, transmission of information. Information assurance includes protection of the data integrity, inte ...

services to the

United States Intelligence Community The United States Intelligence Community (IC) is a group of separate US federal government, U.S. federal government intelligence agencies and subordinate organizations that work to conduct Intelligence assessment, intelligence activities which ...

, for $36 million. In June 2009, a Cobham –

Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and Arms industry, defense company. With 97,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $40 billion, it is one of the world's largest Arms industry ...

50–50 joint venture won the US Army's US$2.4 billion competition to supply Vehicular Intercom Systems. In October 2011, Cobham Analytic Solutions was sold for $350 million to the privately owned

Parsons Corporation Parsons Corporation is an American multinational technology-focused defense, intelligence, and infrastructure engineering firm. Founded in 1944, Parsons is headquartered in Chantilly, Virginia, and serves both government and private sector orga ...

. Then in June 2012, Cobham acquired Danish satellite communications company Thrane & Thrane A/S, making it the core of Cobham's new SATCOM

strategic business unit A strategic business unit (SBU) in business strategic management, is a profit center which focuses on product offering and market segment. SBUs typically have a discrete marketing plan, analysis of competition, and marketing campaign, even though ...

(SBU), to include SeaTel marine, TracStar land and Omnipless airborne SATCOM product lines. In May 2013, Cobham acquired antenna systems business, Axell Wireless. In July 2013, the company bought out FB Heliservices joint venture partner Bristow Helicopters. In April 2014, Cobham sold Chelton Flight Systems and S-TEC Corporation to Genesys Aerosystems. Then in May 2014, Cobham acquired wireless communications company,

Aeroflex Aeroflex Inc. was an American company which produced test equipment, RF and microwave integrated circuits, components and systems used for wireless communications. Its headquarters were located in Plainview, New York. In May 2014, Aeroflex was ...

Holding Corporation for $1.46 billion. In August 2016, David Lockwood was named CEO, replacing Bob Murphy. In July 2019, the company's board agreed to recommend a takeover offer of £4 billion from American

. However, the bid was criticised by Cobham's largest shareholder, and the firm's chairman subsequently remarked that Cobham was seeking out alternative offers. In response, Advent issued several guarantees, seeking to mollify national security concerns ahead of pending approval of the deal by the British Government. The UK Conservative government approved the takeover in December 2019. The transaction was completed on 17 January 2020. The communications division was sold off in November 2020 to TransDigm Group Inc. for $965 million. After 18 months, Advent had already sold the bulk of Cobham’s operations to other buyers, leaving it with no UK manufacturing operations. On 1 June 2021, Eaton completed their acquisition of Cobham Mission Systems for $2.83 billion. In September 2020, Draken International purchased Cobham Aviation Services based in

and

Teesside International Airport Teesside International Airport , formerly Durham Tees Valley Airport, is a small international airport in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It primarily serves Teesside (including Middlesbrough and Stockton-on-Tees), south and ...

, and renamed it Draken Europe. Cobham's 15

Dassault Falcon 20 The Dassault Falcon 20 is a French business jet developed and manufactured by Dassault Aviation. The first business jet developed by the firm, it became the first of a family of business jets to be produced under the same name; of these, both t ...

aircraft, were added to Draken's fleet. In July 2023, French multinational

Thales Group Thales S.A., Trade name, trading as Thales Group (), is a French multinational corporation, multinational aerospace and defence industry, defence corporation specializing in electronics. It designs, develops and manufactures a wide variety of aer ...

entered into a deal to acquire the aerospace communications business of Cobham for $1.1 billion, which it expects to complete during the first half of 2024.

Operations

Cobham is organised into three sectors: * Cobham Advanced Electronic Solutions or CAES specializes in space-qualified microelectronics as well as RF and microwave components for

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

, communication and electronic warfare systems, and is the world leader in advanced tactical military vehicle

intercom An intercom, also called an intercommunication device, intercommunicator, or interphone, is a stand-alone voice communications system for use within a building, small collection of buildings or portably within a small coverage area, which funct ...

systems. * Cobham Aviation Services Australia. * Cobham Communications and Connectivity.

Products

The company produces the Guardian ST820, a battery-operated tracing device used by the American

intelligence agency An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, Intelligence analysis, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy obj ...

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

. The device, which is only available to law enforcement entities, can be secured underneath a car by a strong magnet and incorporates a

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based hyperbolic navigation system owned by the United States Space Force and operated by Mission Delta 31. It is one of the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) that provide geol ...

receiver. In his 2015 book Data and Goliath, American security expert

Bruce Schneier Bruce Schneier (; born January 15, 1963) is an American cryptographer, computer security professional, privacy specialist, and writer. Schneier is an Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and a Fellow at the Berkman ...

wrote that Cobham sells a system enabling buyers to send "blind calls" to mobile phones: calls that don't ring, and are undetectable by the recipient. As described by Schneier, the blind call allows the sender to track the phone's location to within one metre. Schneier noted that Cobham's customers include the governments of

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Rebreathers

Carleton Life Support, a subsidiary of Cobham based in

Davenport, Iowa Davenport ( ) is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. It is situated along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state. Davenport had a population of 101,724 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 cen ...

, US makes the MK 16

rebreather A rebreather is a breathing apparatus that absorbs the carbon dioxide of a user's exhaled breath to permit the rebreathing (recycling) of the substantial unused oxygen content, and unused inert content when present, of each breath. Oxygen is a ...

used by the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

, and the Siva range of

diving rebreather A Diving rebreather is an underwater breathing apparatus that absorbs the carbon dioxide of a diver's breathing, exhaled breath to permit the rebreathing (recycling) of the substantially unused oxygen content, and unused inert content when pres ...

s, originally made by Fullerton Sherwood Engineering.

Siva

The versions of Siva are: * Siva S10 oxygen rebreather, with a dive duration rated as 4 hours, which is worn on the chest. * Siva S24, a dual mode oxygen or semi-closed circuit mixed gas rebreather with maximum operating depth normally limited to 24 metres, but can be set to 55 metres, which is worn on the chest. * Siva-55 is worn on the back. It has two 200 bar

Inconel Inconel is a nickel-chromium-based superalloy often utilized in extreme environments where components are subjected to high temperature, pressure or Mechanical load, mechanical loads. Inconel alloys are oxidation- and corrosion-resistant. When he ...

spheres with a total volume of 5.6 litres. It is superseded by the Carleton Viper The Siva 55, also known as Canadian Clearance Diving Apparatus (CCDA), is rated for an operating depth up to 55 metres. It can be used as a semi-closed circuit rebreather with any one of 3 standard

nitrox Nitrox refers to any gas mixture composed (excepting trace gases) of nitrogen and oxygen. It is usually used for mixtures that contain less than 78% nitrogen by volume. In the usual application, underwater diving, nitrox is normally distinguished ...

mixes (32.5, 40 and 60% oxygen) or as a closed circuit oxygen rebreather. * Siva+ is worn on the back. It is also known as Canadian Underwater Mine-countermeasure Apparatus (

CUMA CUMA (Canadian Underwater Mine-countermeasure Apparatus) (commercially called SIVA+) is a make of rebreather underwater breathing set designed and made in Canada for the Canadian Armed Forces by Fullerton Sherwood Engineering Ltd to replace the R ...

). It is a self-mixing rebreather which works on the principle of a flow of oxygen which is mixed with a diluent to a ratio dependent on the ambient pressure. The Siva+ is rated for 90 metres. The diluent can be air or trimix or

heliox Heliox is a breathing gas mixture of helium (He) and oxygen (O2). It is used as a medical treatment for patients with difficulty breathing because this mixture generates less resistance than atmospheric air when passing through the airways of ...

Viper

Viper is an electronically-controlled closed circuit mixed gas rebreather originally manufactured by Carleton Life Support, subsequently acquired by Cobham plc and fitted with the Juergensen Defense Corporation Mark V Electronic Control System. It is designed for use by combat

Explosive Ordnance Disposal Bomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous explosive devices are disabled or otherwise rendered safe. ''Bomb disposal'' is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated fu ...

divers, and for diving to remove

naval mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive weapon placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Similar to anti-personnel mine, anti-personnel and other land mines, and unlike purpose launched naval depth charges, they are ...

s which may be sensitive to sound and magnetic fields. The technology is derived from the Carleton SIVA 55 rebreathers. It is worn in a back inflation buoyancy compensator harness which incorporates two

counterlung A rebreather is a breathing apparatus that absorbs the carbon dioxide of a user's exhaled breath to permit the rebreathing (recycling) of the substantial unused oxygen content, and unused inert content when present, of each breath. Oxygen is ad ...

s, one on each side. All of its components are on the back, exposed. It can use a

mouthpiece Mouthpiece may refer to: * The part of an object which comes near or in contact with one's mouth or nose during use ** Mouthpiece (smoking pipe) or cigarette holder ** Mouthpiece (telephone handset) ** Mouthpiece (woodwind), a component of a wood ...

or a variety of fullface masks. It is designed to be silent and non-magnetic. The front of the wearer is clear, enabling the user to climb in and out of boats and over walls. The Viper has a large cylindrical scrubber canister longitudinally on the back, two spherical gas containers side by side below that, and optionally, a bailout cylinder set transversely underneath. It uses a loop configuration breathing circuit. Three versions of the Viper are made: *Viper SC Underwater Mine Countermeasures (MCM) Diving Apparatus *Viper Plus *Viper E Mixed Gas Underwater Breathing Apparatus Specifications: * Maximum depth: Viper SC, 55 meters; Viper Plus, 90 meters; Viper E, 100 meters. * Operating mode: Viper SC and Viper Plus, Semi-closed or closed circuit; Viper E, automatic electronic closed circuit with 3 sensors and 2 independent systems to monitor

partial pressure In a mixture of gases, each constituent gas has a partial pressure which is the notional pressure of that constituent gas as if it alone occupied the entire volume of the original mixture at the same temperature. The total pressure of an ideal g ...

of oxygen. The Viper SC can be upgraded to fully closed circuit electronic gas mixing for 100 meter operations. * Dive duration: Viper E, 4 hours at 0 °C * Size: 78 cm = 30.7 inches high; 22 cm = 8.66 inches wide at top; 43 cm = 16.93 wide at hips; 24 mc = 9.45 inches deep. * Weight: In air, less than 30 kg = 66 pounds. In seawater, neutral buoyancy.

Queen's Awards for Enterprise

* 2007: Cobham Defense Communications, based in

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, received a Queen's Award for Enterprise in the International Trade category. The business was awarded the award for its ability to supply leading edge intercom systems to customers around the world. * 2009: Cobham Surveillance, based in Segensworth,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, England, received a Queen's Award for Enterprise in the International Trade category. The business – formerly known as Domo Ltd – tripled its export sales in three years. * 2010: Cobham Surveillance, based in Segensworth,

, received a Queen's Award for Enterprise in the Innovation category. The award was for the development of its Solo4 wireless digital audio and video link technology that improves safety for bomb disposal teams and law enforcement personnel by increasing the range at which they can effectively operate their robotic bomb disposal equipment. * 2010: Cobham Antenna Systems, based in

Marlow, Buckinghamshire Marlow ( ), historically Great Marlow or Chipping Marlow, is a town and civil parish within the Unitary Authority of Buckinghamshire, England. It is located on the River Thames, south-southwest of High Wycombe, west-northwest of Maidenhead and ...

, received a Queen's Award for Enterprise in the International Trade category. The business – formerly known as Chelton Ltd – continuously increased export revenues over six years and sells over 80% of its production overseas.

Sports club

The company originally created Cobham Sports and Social Club, a members' club in Merley near the main manufacturing site in

Wimborne, Dorset Wimborne Minster (often referred to as Wimborne, ) is a market town in Dorset in South West England, and the name of the Church of England church in that town. It lies at the confluence of the River Stour and the River Allen, north of Pool ...

in 1971. Whilst this club is now in private ownership (no longer part of Cobham), it still uses the Cobham branding and is used as the ground for Merley Cobham Sports F.C.

References

Bibliography

External links

*
A 1950 Flight Refuelling Limited advert

* ttps://books.google.com/books?id=KSYDAAAAMBAJ&pg=RA2-PA82 "Gas Station In The Sky"1947 article on FLR's first in-flight refueling system
"F.R. Equipment Speeds Refuelling!"
a 1951 advert for Flight Refuelling's pressure refuelling system as used on the

de Havilland Comet The de Havilland DH.106 Comet is the world's first commercial jet airliner. Developed and manufactured by de Havilland in the United Kingdom, the Comet 1 prototype first flew in 1949. It features an aerodynamically clean design with four ...

Military dive rebreathers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cobham Plc Aircraft component manufacturers of the United Kingdom Air refueling Manufacturing companies established in 1934 British companies established in 1934 Companies based in Dorset Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange Defence companies of the United Kingdom Rebreather makers Underwater diving equipment manufacturers Wimborne Minster 1934 establishments in England British brands Private equity portfolio companies 2020 mergers and acquisitions