The De Havilland Aircraft Company was formed as a result of the of the sale of Airco, where Geoffrey De Havilland had been chief designer, to BSA. Due to the financial difficulty that Airco was in when it became part of BSA the decision was taken to liquidate it and the company’s assets were placed for sale. They were bought by de Havilland, with the help of an investment by George Holt Thomas, who was able to use them to found his own company at the Stag Lane Aerodrome, near Edgware. Initially work was focused on maintaining and providing spares for surplus DH.4 and DH.9 aircraft that had been produced by Airco and were being operated by various civil organisations. Beyond this the company focused on the growing civilian market by continuing with the development of the DH.18 airliner, which had also begun by Airco. During 1924 Alan Samuel Butler became chairman of the De Havilland Aircraft Company Ltd following a large investment that had result from an aircraft the company had built for him. At this time, the company was producing DH.9 and DH.9A aircraft as well as experimental designs for the Air Ministry and the DH.50 four passenger aircraft. It was also work on designs for what would become the DH.54. On 22nd February 1925 the first flight of the DH.60 Cirrus Moth, a small two seater biplane, was undertaken. This design would lead to a series of successful aircraft that were popular with private aviators and the Air Ministry. The success of this design also led to the development by De Havilland of their own engine design, as the war surplus designs they had been making use of were running out. This would become the Gipsy and was used to produce the DH.60 Gipsy Moth. The new engine development also led to the establishment of the company’s engine division in 1926. During March 1928, a new subsidiary was formed known as the De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Ltd. This was based in Toronto and built Moth aircraft as well trained Canadian aircrew. Soon after the De Havilland Aircraft Pty Ltd was established in Melbourne. In 1929 the De Havilland Aircraft Company was listed as a public company, with de Havilland himself continued in his role as technical director. At this time, the company was concentrating on the production of single and two seat biplanes, many of which were continuations of the work of Airco but which also included the Gypsy Moth, one of which was flown by Amy Johnson to Australia in 1930. They had already expanded production to include several models of airliner which included the DH84 Dragon, DH84B Dragon Express and DH89 Dragon Rapide. It had also established additional overseas facilities, beyond those in Australia and Canada, in India, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States of America. In 1931 the Gipsy Moth was redesigned to meet an RAF specification for a training aircraft. This was the DH.82 Tiger Moth. De Havilland also designed a number of aircraft with enclosed cockpits as both he and his wife were tired of travelling in open designs. In 1932 the De Havilland Aircraft Company moved to Hatfield, although the Stag Lane site was retained for the production of aircraft engines, and in 1935 De Havilland Propellers was established as a subsidiary. This was established to construct Hamilton Standard variable pitch propellers under licence. The production of these would be undertaken at a newly established facility in Lostock. Also, during the late 1930s the company would work on the development and production of the Albatross and Flamingo airliners. Production of these designs would be interrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War, although the limited number produced would find use in the Royal Air Force and BAOC. During the war, de Havilland undertook a great deal of work in repairing battle damaged Hurricanes and also produced 150 Airspeed Oxfords. In additions to this October 1939 saw the beginning of design work on an unarmed bomber that would subcontract work to furniture and coachbuilding companies, which would otherwise have a limited role in the war effort. On 3rd October 1940, the Hatfield site suffered its only direct damage of the war when four bombs hit one of the workshops killing 21 and injuring a further 70. In response the work undertaken here was later dispersed. Later in 1940 the Mosquito undertook its first flight and would later enter service with the RAF in July 1941. Also at this time, the company developed both the Goblin jet engine and the Vampire which it was used in. This would undertake its first flight on 20th September 1943 and achieved a speed of 500mph in 1944, but production would not begin until after the end of the conflict. In addition to this it would be the first jet powered aircraft to land on an aircraft carrier in December 1945 when Lt Cdr Eric ‘Winkle’ Brown landed one on HMS Ocean. De Havilland’s development of civilian airliners would also continue during this period. In late 1944 it would begin design work on a small aircraft to meet the type 5B specification that had resulted from the Brabazon Committee. This would become the Dove, which would first fly on 25th September 1945, on the 25th anniversary of the company, and would be later developed into the larger Heron. Both of these would be constructed at a new site, acquired in 1948, at Hawarden Airport also known as Broughton. During 1946 the company also undertook work aimed at breaking the sound barrier. In order to do this a new design, the tailless DH.108 Swallow, was produced and this was first flown on 15th May 1946. Although it would be the first aircraft outside North America to fly supersonic, achieving this on 7th September 1948, it only achieved this after one of the aircraft broke up in flight on 26th September 1946 killing the company’s chief test pilot, Geoffrey De Havilland Junior. On 27th July 1949 the first flight of the jet powered Comet airliner was undertaken. This had been initially developed to meet the type IV specification from the Brabazon Committee, for a high speed transatlantic mail plane, but had been changed to a passenger aircraft. The design entered service on 2nd May 1952 as the world first commercial jet airliner. 1949 also saw the first flight of the Venom fighter, which was based on the previous Vampire design but with a more powerful engine. In 1951 the De Havilland Aircraft Company the first prototype DH.110 Vixen was completed. This was a larger RADAR equipped fighter design that was developed for use by both the Fleet Air Arm and the Royal Airforce. On 6th September 1952 it would be demonstrated at the Farnborough Air Show. After breaking the sound barrier it turned towards the crowd but broke up during the maneuverer killing both the aircrew aboard and 29 members of the public on the ground. 60 more would be injured and following the accident stricter regulations relating to aerial displays were introduced. The company would also suffer further losses during the early 1950s when three Comets would break up during flight. This would lead to a series of inquiries into these losses, as well as the grounding of all the Comets then in service. Although the design would be improved to produce the Comet 4, by the time this was introduced other designs had been introduced and orders were severely limited. During 1955 the company underwent a major reorganisation. The De Havilland Aircraft Company, De Havilland Engine Company and De Havilland Propellers Ltd all became subsidiaries of De Havilland Holdings Ltd. In the late 1950s the company would be involved in the development of the Blue Streak rocket and also formed a joint venture with Hunting Aircraft and Fairey Aviation in order to produce the DH.121 Trident, under the name Airco. This would be the last airliner developed independently by the De Havilland Company as in 1960 it would be acquired by Hawker Siddeley to form part of their aviation division. Although it would continue to operate under its own name for a short period, during which it acquired S.G. Brown from the Admiralty, this would only last until 1963 when Hawker Siddeley took the decision to discontinue the use of the various names it was using in favour of a single Hawker Siddeley brand.

Hawker Siddeley Group PLC was initially formed as the Hawker Siddeley Aircraft Company on 11th July 1935. The new company was established to acquire all of the shares of the Armstrong Siddeley Development Company and 50% of the shares of the Hawker Aircraft Company. This merged the two largest British aircraft manufacturers and included the subsidiaries of the two companies involved. These consisted of Armstrong Siddeley Motors, Sir W.G. Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft Ltd and A.V. Roe and Co, which were part of the Armstrong Siddeley Development Company, and the Gloster Aircraft Company, which was part of Hawker, all of which continued to produce aircraft under their own names. During the Second World War Hawker Siddeley was one of the most important aircraft manufacturers in Britain. During the course of the conflict it produced several important designs including the Hawker Hurricane and Avro Lancaster as well as working on Britain’s first jet aircraft, the Gloster E.28/39, and the first British jet fighter, the Gloster Meteor. In 1945 the company also purchased Victory Aircraft from the Canadian government and transferred to its subsidiary Avro. This then became A.V. Roe Canada but was most often know as Avro Canada. On 22nd June 1948 the company underwent a restricting when it was transformed from a private to a public limited company and underwent a name change. As such it went from being Hawker Siddeley Aircraft Company Limited to Hawker Siddeley Group Limited. In 1957 the Hawker Siddeley Group purchased the Brush Group, which included Brush Electrical Machines and Brush Traction. At the time it also acquired Mirrlees, Bickerton and Day. It also formed Hawker Siddeley John Brown Nuclear Construction as a joint venture to produce nuclear power equipment for marine propulsion, electrical generation and other industrial applications. In 1958 it formed another join company this time with Beyer Peacock, under the name Beyer Peacock (Hymek) Ltd, in order to manufacture diesel hydraulic locomotives. 1959 saw a further joint company, Primapax, which made, hired and sold vending machines. During the late 1950s the British government decided that the number of aircraft manufacturers should be decreased as the number of contracts being offered was being reduced. As a result of this Hawker Siddeley merged all of its aviation interests, Hawker, Avro, Gloster, Armstrong Whitworth and Armstrong Siddeley, into a single division, Hawker Siddeley Aviation during October 1958. In 1959 it also merged its aircraft engine business, Armstrong Siddeley, with Bristol Aero Engines to form Bristol Siddeley Engines. The group also acquired Folland Aircraft and in 1960 purchased both the de Havilland Aircraft Company and the Blackburn Group. By 1961 the Hawker Siddeley Group was made up of 3 major operational groups, Hawker Siddeley Aviation, Hawker Siddeley Industries and A.V. Roe Canada. Avro Canada would be dissolved in 1962 due to the cancellation of the Avro Arrow aircraft with its remaining assets being transferred to Hawker Siddeley Canada. The new company focused on the manufacture of railway vehicles, subway cars and trams. In 1963 the group underwent a further restructuring as the names of its constituent companies were dropped in favour of a single Hawker Siddeley branding. As a result, the company’s products were rebranded with a HS number in place of their previous number. During 1968 the group expanded further by acquiring Crompton Parkinson, which was later combined with Brook Motors, when they acquired this company in 1970, to form Brook Crompton. On 29th April 1977 the Hawker Siddeley Group underwent a major change when, as a result of the Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act, its Aviation and Dynamics groups were nationalised and merged with the British Aircraft Corporation and Scottish Aviation to form British Aerospace. Despite this loss of its aviation interests, they only accounted for 25% of the group’s business and as such it was able reorganise its remaining interests in a holding company, Hawker Siddeley Group PLC. The decision was taken to focus this group on railway engineering, industrial electronics and signalling equipment. During the 1980s the Hawker Siddeley Group continued to expand, acquiring Carlton Industries between 1981 and 1984, and GEC Small Machines Company and GEC Alsthom Electromotes in 1989. This success made the group a target for a hostile takeover by the BTR conglomerate and in November 1991 they acquired it for £1.5 billion. The Hawker Siddeley name continued to be used in the group’s switchgear division which was later sold to FKI and later Melrose PLC.

British Aerospace, often abbreviated to BAe, was an aerospace and defence company formed on 29th April 1977. This was a result of the Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act which merged the British Aircraft Corporation, Hawker Siddeley Aviation, Hawker Siddeley Dynamics and Scottish Aviation into a nationalised company. The new company controlled a large part of the British aviation industry and was the largest defence contractor in Europe. In 1979 the company joined the Airbus consortium, acquiring a 20% share. The British government had previously withdrawn from this project although Hawker Siddeley had continued to be involved as a contractor producing wings for their aircraft. In 1981 the company underwent a major restructuring. On 1st January the statutory corporation was transferred to a limited company and this was reregistered as British Aerospace PLC. It was then gradually privatised as 51.6% of the shares were sold to the public in February with the remaining 48.4% being sold in May 1985. Despite this the British government retained a single golden share that gave them the power to block foreign control of the company. Also during 1985 BAe would be the primary contractor for the Al-Yamamah arms deal. During the late 1980s British Aerospace would become involved in serval joint ventures and acquired a number of companies which diversified its operations away from aircraft manufacturing. The first of these was undertaken in cooperation with Alenia Aeronautica, Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA and DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG to form Eurofighter GmBH which would go on to develop the Eurofighter Typhoon. During 1991 it would also form another joint venture with the Sema Group to form a naval defence company, BAeSEMA. The company would also acquire Royal Ordnance on 22nd April 1987, the Rover Group in 1988, Heckler and Koch in 1991 and 30% share in Hutchison Telecommunications. Despite the expansion undertaken during the 1980s BAe would begin to suffer some difficulties during the early 1990s as its property company struggled, Rover sales dropped and the British government undertook a defence spending review. As a result the decision was taken to divest the company of its non-aerospace or defence activities. As a result in 1993 BAE Corporate Jets Ltd and Arkansas Aerospace Inc were sold to Raytheon and in 1994 the Rover Group was sold to BMW whist British Aerospace Space Systems were sold to Matra Marconi Space. As well as this in 1998 it reduced its shareholding in Orange to 5% and acquired the UK operations of Siemens Plessey Systems from Siemens AG. By the late 1990s the consolidation of defence companies was becoming a major issues especially in Europe. The formation of Lockheed Martin and the merger of Boeing and McDonnell Douglas put serious pressure on European companies to consolidate their operations. Initially it was thought that BAe would merge with DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG but this was put on hold when it emerged that GEC was selling its defence electronics business, Marconi Electronic Systems. It was believed that this may be acquired by an American company. As a result the decision was taken to merge this company with British Aerospace forming a company that was initially known as New British Aerospace. The new company would be formed on 30th November 1999 under the name BAE Systems.

EADS Astrium was a satellite manufacturer and subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company, EADS later Airbus. It was formed, as Astrium, in 2000 by the merger of Matra Marconi Space, DaimlerChrysler Aerospace and Computadoras, Redes e Ingeniería. The new company was a joint venture between EADS and BAE Systems until 2003 when the British company sold its stake. This led to the company being reorganised to become EADS Astrium with EADS as its sole shareholder. In 2004 CASA Espacio became part of the company. During 2013 Cassidian and Airbus Military were merged with EADS Astrium during a reorganisation of EADS. This led to the creation of Airbus Defence and Space within the newly created Airbus Group.