Heritage
Welcome to the BAE Systems Heritage Website
BAE Systems has a proud heritage of innovation, state of the art engineering and technical excellence.
We can trace our history back to 1560 when the Royal Powder Factory was established at Waltham Abbey in Essex
Over the next few pages we’ll follow the evolution of the company from its earliest beginnings through to BAE Systems today. We’ll highlight some of the famous names and innovative products that we have been associated with over almost 450 years.
Many of those names that we still recognise today, established
themselves around the late early 19th and early 20th Centuries
including Avro, Bofors, The General Electric Company, Supermarine,
Vickers, Tracor and Yarrow Shipbuilders. All took advantage of the
giant leaps in engineering innovation that saw the development of
the motor car, the submarine, the tank and of course the
aeroplane.
Without our forefathers' pioneering spirit, BAE Systems would not
be where it is today.
To make the most of the Heritage site please launch one of the three interactive features on the right hand side of the page. Through these you will be able to explore BAE Systems' heritage partners, our historical timeline and a lineage showing how our antecedent companies merged together.
