Patria (company)

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Patria Oyj
Type	Public
Founded	1997
Headquarters	Helsinki, Finland
Key people	Jorma Wiitakorpi, Chief Executive Officer
Industry	Aerospace and defense
Products	Armored vehicles, weapon systems, munitions, space technology, aircraft parts
Revenue	▲ 447,8 million € (2006)
Net income	▲ 26,9 million € (2006)
Employees	2,447 (2006)
Parent	Finnish Ministry of Employment and the Economy (73,2 %), EADS N.V. (26,8%)
Website	www.patria.fi

Patria is a Finnish company which produces a wide range of defence, aviation and aerospace technology.

1 Aviation
- 1.1 Aircraft
2 Vehicles
3 Mortar systems
4 External links

[edit] Aviation

It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Valtion lentokonetehdas. (Discuss)

Main article: Valtion lentokonetehdas

In April 1921, the company Ilmailuvoimien Lentokonetehdas (Air Force Aircraft Factory, often abbreviated to I.V.L. or IVL) was established at Suomenlinna in Helsinki in April 1921.

The first aircraft to be produced was a license copy of the German design Hansa-Brandenburg W.33, which was called A.22 Hansa. Soon thereafter, the company began making own designs and license manufacture other types of aircraft.

In February 1928 the company was renamed into Valtion Lentokonetehdas (State Aircraft Factory, often abbreviated to V.L. or VL) and another factory was established at Santahamina, Helsinki. There tooIndigenous designs and license built aircraft. The most numerous type at the time was the Fokker D.XXI with 90 produced.

In 1935 Valtion Lentokonetehdas was re-organized, the works at Suomenlinna and Santahamina were closed and all design and production work was moved to Tampere. In 1940 a second factory was opened at Kuorevesi, three years later a third one was opened at Linnavuori.

With the ending of World War II in 1945, the Valtion Lentokonetehdas and other state owned factories were merged into the company Valtion Metallitehtaat Lentokonetehdas (State Metal Factories, often abbreviated to V.M.T. or VMT). This company did not only focus on aircraft but on anything from general house-hold machinery to engines.

The Finnish aircraft design declined during a number of years and it was not until 1951 when a new design was flown. That same year Valtion Metallitehtaat Lentokonetehdas was re-named Valmet OY Lentokonetehdas (Valmet Aircraft Factory) with its subsidiaries named Valmet Oy Tampereen tehdas ja Kuoreveden tehdas (Valmet Oy Tampere works and Kuorevesi works). The company has been renamed many times since the 1960s. In 1963 Karhumäki works at Kuorevesi became part of Valmet. Its main business was maintenance work for the Ilmavoimat (Finnish AF). In 1967 Valmet moved all its aviation activities to Kuorevesi. In 1974 Valmet OY Lentokonetehdas was renamed Valmet Lentokonetehtaat (Valmet Aviation Industries), and in 1989 Valmet Lentokonetehdas was renamed into Valmet Lentokoneteollisuus (Valmet Aircraft Industries). On September 5, 1996 Valmet became Patria Finavitec Oy.