It was formed on 31 July 1941, as a spin off from
Compagnia Generale di Elettricità (CGE), and also known as
CGE-FIAR. It made repeater transmitters for
RAI (Radiotelevisione italiana), the national broadcasting company of Italy. In the 1980s it formed the ELIRADAR consortium with SMA (
Stato maggiore dell'Aeronautica Militare). It was a prime contractor for some avionics in the
Panavia Tornado; Italy took a 15% share in the
Panavia Aircraft project and planned to buy 100 of the aircraft. Up until the late 1980s, it had only produced radars built
under licence. The first radar that it developed itself was the Grifo. The company was Italy's leading manufacturer of radar and
infrared homing technology, notably for the
MIM-23 Hawk missile. It made airborne and
precision approach radar.
Ownership It was a division of
Alenia Aeronautica (
Alenia Difesa from 1994 to 2001), later bought by Finmeccanica. ==Products==