MEL Equipment was a British manufacturer of

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 ...

avionics Avionics (a portmanteau of ''aviation'' and ''electronics'') are the Electronics, electronic systems used on aircraft. Avionic systems include communications, Air navigation, navigation, the display and management of multiple systems, and the ...

and military radio equipment based in

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

History

The company was formed as Radio Transmission Equipment in March 1935 in south London. Later it was fully acquired by

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...

and renamed Mullard Equipment Ltd. It moved to

Crawley Crawley () is a town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a populat ...

in 1961. In the 1970s, the company was employing around 2,250.

Products

* Larkspur radio equipment * Clansman radio equipment * EKCO E390/564 airborne

weather radar A weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar (WSR) and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation (meteorology), precipitation, calculate its motion, and estimate its type (rain, snow, hail etc.). Modern w ...

(for

Concorde Concorde () is a retired Anglo-French supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France and the United Kingdom signed a treaty establishin ...

) * Microwave Airborne Digital Guidance Equipment *

Precision approach radar Precision approach radar or PAR is a type of radar guidance system designed to provide lateral and vertical guidance to an aircraft pilot for landing, until the landing threshold is reached. Controllers monitoring the PAR displays observe each air ...

''New Scientist'' May 1977 Page 342
/ref> * Radar

transponder In telecommunications, a transponder is a device that, upon receiving a signal, emits a different signal in response. The term is a blend of ''transmitter'' and ''responder''. In air navigation or radio frequency identification, a flight trans ...

Products currently made by the Thales site

* Cerberus Mission System for

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

helicopters *

Searchwater Searchwater was a maritime surveillance radar developed by Thorn EMI under project P1149. This type of radar has been in service with the Royal Air Force Hawker Siddeley Nimrod aboard the MR2 variant since the 1970s. The retirement of the Royal Na ...

radar

References

{{reflist

External links

Grace's Guide

Radio Transmission Equipment
Aircraft component manufacturers of the United Kingdom Electronics companies of the United Kingdom Companies based in Crawley Defunct manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom Electronics companies established in 1935 Radar manufacturers Science and technology in West Sussex Thales Group divisions and subsidiaries British companies disestablished in 1997

History

Products

Products currently made by the Thales site

See also

References

External links