This year sees the 80th anniversary of Cobham Plc, the company founded in 1934 by Sir Alan Cobham—one of Britain's most famed aviation pioneers. Today, with his son Sir Michael Cobham still the major shareholder, Cobham Plc maintains three main business areas: its Aerospace Systems Group, Avionics Group and Flight Operations and Services Group. Within those groups are many famed names in aviation (over 70 companies in all), including Carleton, Chelton, Flight Refuelling and FR Aviation, FR-HiTemp, Label, Sargent Fletcher, Slingsby Aviation and Wallop.
Cobham today describes itself as a designer and manufacturer of equipment, specialized systems and components for the aerospace, defense, homeland security, search and rescue and communications markets. It operates, modifies and maintains aircraft for military training, special mission flight operations and outsourced freight and passenger services. Outside the UK it has operations in Austria, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Malaysia, South Africa, Sweden and the United States.
Around Britain, Cobham's most visible face is FR Aviation (FRA), the heart of its flight operations and aviation services capabilities. FRA supplies air defense target facilities and EW aggressor training for air forces and navies worldwide. In the UK FRA is teamed with Bristow Helicopters to support the tri-service Defence Helicopter Flying School (DHFS) which supplies rotary-wing pilot training the Royal Air Force, Royal Navy and Army. This contract stands as the largest military private finance initiative (PFI) deal to be approved to date, worth some €746 million ($915 million) in 2000 prices.
That sum was to be dwarfed by the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) program, a project worth at least €13.4 billion ($16.5 billion) to supply air-to-air refuelling and transport capability to the RAF over a 27-year term. Cobham held a 25% stake in the AirTanker Consortium (led by EADS) that was selected by the UK Ministry of Defence in January as "most likely to provide an acceptable solution."
AirTanker and the MoD went forward into contract negotiations, but in June the process collapsed over the critical question of cost. This was unhappy news for Cobham. Its June 2004 statement of results had already predicted a slide in profitability of 5% compared to the six months to the end of June 2003. This was due largely to the fall in the value of the dollar—an increasingly unwelcome problem for all foreign companies doing business in the United States.
The early months of 2004 saw Cobham expand its portfolio of companies through the acquisition of Precision Antennas (UK), Pentar Communications (USA), DTC Communications Inc. (USA) and NEC Aero (France). Other recent new business has included FR-HiTemp's inclusion on the Boeing 7E7 program, to supply fuel system components to the potential value of €81 million ($100 million).
In Australia National Jet Systems won multi-year contracts for passenger operations to Papua New Guinea, the Cocos Islands and Christmas Island. Also in Australia Flight Refuelling Ltd will supply the aerial refuelling system for the Royal Australian Air Force's newly selected Airbus A330 Multirole Tanker Transports. Australia chose an A330 tanker solution in April, just a few months after the UK also expressed its preference for the A330. The Airbus tankers will open up and large new market for Cobham and it is to be hoped that the UK program gets back on the rails quickly. Cobham Plc is in Hall 3, Stand B11 and Chalet C15-17.
