Cobham plc

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cobham plc (LSE: COB) is a British manufacturing company based in Wimborne Minster, Dorset, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

Cobham was founded as Flight Refuelling Ltd. (FRL) in 1934 by Sir Alan Cobham, who remained chairman until 1969. It was initially involved in the nascent aerial refueling market, and now supplies a range of products to the aerospace, defence, communications, law enforcement and national security industries.

In 1997 Cobham Engineering Group acquired M L Aviation & Marine, a company that had already absorbed Frazer-Nash.

Cobhams' military products include missile components, including parts for the US Hellfire missiles used during the invasion of Iraq, as well as weapons carriage and release systems. Its military sales comprised 51 % of its total sales in 2005.

Turnover for the year ended 31 December 2004 was £983.0 million. Profits were £125.9 million before tax and £85 million after tax.

It owns Slingsby Aviation and the Chelton Electronic Company to name a few. Chelton Flight Systems is a subdivision of the Chelton company. They produce an EFIS for the private aviation industy.