BAE Systems

The Aircraft of British Aerospace and BAE SYSTEMS 1977 - 2017 7

remainder of British Aerospace would be
sold off, though a ‘Golden share’ was
retained so that the Government could
veto foreign control of the firm and stated
that the chairman and chief executive
must be British. In May 1985 the sale took
place and BAe was fully in private hands.

BAe’s aircraft manufacturing
sites, then and now
At formation, British Aerospace inherited
many sites across the UK but very few of
these remain today. As BAE SYSTEMS, the
organisation has changed considerably in
emphasis with many other plants in the
UK, for instance in Telford and Cambridge
and elsewhere in the world such as
Sterling Heights, Michigan, USA where
BAE SYSTEMS Combat Vehicles HQ is
based.
In the 1980s there were closures of
BAe factories at Bitteswell in
Leicestershire, Holme-on-Spalding-Moor
in Yorkshire, Hurn in Dorset and
Weybridge, Surrey. In the early 1990s
Hawker’s factory at Kingston, Surrey and
the famous former De Havilland Hatfield
plant in Hertfordshire followed suit.
Dunsfold, Surrey, was closed in 2000,
Broughton and Filton were passed to
Airbus in 2006 and in 2011 and 2012, two
famous former Hawker Siddeley (Avro)
sites at Woodford and Chadderton in
Cheshire were closed.
The company’s strategy was to sell off
its valuable sites, especially those in
southern England and redevelop them,
generally very profitably. The sites still
involved with aircraft manufacture and
support for BAE are Warton, Samlesbury,
Brough and Prestwick.
Warton, Lancs., carries out final assembly
of Hawk (since 2010) and Typhoon.
Research and manufacture of UAV, UCAV
testbeds, e.g. Mantis and Taranis. Warton

is BAE Systems flight test centre.

Samlesbury Lancs., produces

components for Hawk, Typhoon, F-

Lightning 2.

Brough, Yorks., provides Hawk support.

Prestwick, Ayrshire, supports over 650

BAE civil aircraft i.e., Jetstream 31/32,

Jetstream 41, ATP, HS748 and BAe 146/

Avro RJ families operated by over 190

customers in 70 countries.

BAe’s missile and space

manufacturing sites

The newly formed BAe Dynamics brought

together BAC Guided Weapons and

FROM BRITISH AEROSPACE TO BAE SYSTEMS 1977-

†

The BAe 146 prototype G-SSSH airborne on

its maiden flight from Hatfield on 3

September 1981. This aircraft later became

the 146-300 prototype re-registered as

G-LUXE. It is now a meteorological research

aircraft based at Cranfield, Bedfordshire.

(BAE SYSTEMS)

† The BAe

Jetstream 31

prototype G-JSSD

was a conversion of

a Handley Page

built Jetstream. It

made its first flight

from Prestwick on

23 March 1980.

(BAE SYSTEMS)

Hawker Siddeley Dynamics. BAe

established two subsidiaries, one dealing

with Space Systems and the other Guided

Weapons. Four pre-nationalisation sites

remain in the aerospace business. The

former Hawker Siddeley plant at Lostock

is now part of MDBA, as are the former

BAC plants at Filton and Stevenage. The

remaining aerospace site at Stevenage is

now part of Airbus Space and Defence.

British Aerospace’s civil

strategy

The new company was confronted by the

need to derive a civil airliner strategy. The

FROM BRITISH AEROSPACE TO BAE SYSTEMS 1977-

The BAe 146 prototype G-SSSH airborne on

its maiden flight from Hatfield on 3

September 1981. This aircraft later became

the 146-300 prototype re-registered as

G-LUXE. It is now a meteorological research

aircraft based at Cranfield, Bedfordshire.

(BAE SYSTEMS)