Origins Hawker Siddeley Aircraft was formed in 1935 as a result of the purchase by
Hawker Aircraft of the companies of
J. D. Siddeley, the automotive and engine builder
Armstrong Siddeley and the aircraft manufacturer
Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft. At this time, Hawker Siddeley also acquired
A.V. Roe & Company (Avro),
Gloster Aircraft Company (Gloster) and Air Training Services. Avro Canada underwent a major expansion through aircraft development and acquisition of aircraft engine, mining, steel, railway rolling stock, computers, electronics, and other businesses to become, by 1958, Canada's third largest company directly employing over 14,000 people and providing 45% of the parent company's revenues. During its operation, Avro Canada aircraft (built) included the
C102 Jetliner,
CF-100 Canuck,
CF-105 Arrow and
VZ-9- AV Avrocar. Only the CF-100 fighter entered full-scale production. After the cancellation of the Arrow, the company began to unravel. In 1962, A.V. Roe Canada was dissolved and the remaining assets were transferred to the now defunct
Hawker Siddeley Canada. in
Langley, Berkshire (then in Buckinghamshire). The reactor was in operation there from 1959 to 1962 and generated a total of 1.4 MWh before being shut down and transported to the
Royal Naval College in
Greenwich, London.
Kingston headquarters and factory In 1948, Hawker Siddeley acquired a factory in
Kingston upon Thames,
Surrey, on the
Richmond Road near
Ham. This was to become their main aircraft factory and headquarters.
Expansion into railways In 1957, Hawker Siddeley purchased the Brush group of companies that included
Brush Electrical Machines, and
Brush Traction, which manufactures electromotive equipment and
railway locomotives. The Brush prototype locomotives
Falcon, and the futuristic but over-weight
HS4000 'Kestrel', were produced there. Other railway engineering assets were acquired, including
Westinghouse Brake & Signal and the engine builder
Mirrlees Blackstone, which came with the Brush businesses. built in the Hawker Siddeley plant of
Thunder Bay, Ontario In the early 1970s, Hawker Siddeley's
Canada Car and Foundry subsidiary began to build rapid transit vehicles for the North American market. The first order was for the
Port Authority Trans-Hudson line and consisted of 46 PA-3 cars numbers 724–769, which were largely based on the original hexagonal profile PA-1 & PA-2 cars designed and built by the
St. Louis Car Company during 1966–67. Hawker Siddeley later sold the same general design to the
MBTA in Boston for their
Blue and
Orange Lines. 70 48' cars were delivered to the Blue Line in 1978–80 and 120 65' cars were delivered to the Orange Line in 1980–81. Hawker Siddeley also manufactured much of the
Toronto subway system's older
rolling stock, the
H5 and H6 models. The heavy rail manufacturing business, based in
Mississauga and
Thunder Bay, Ontario, are now part of
Alstom. MBTA also bought a number of commuter rail coaches from the German firm
Messerschmitt, thereby teaming Hawker Siddeley with its old
World War II rival under the same organisation.
Nationalisation of aircraft production On 29 April 1977, as a result of the
Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act 1977, Hawker Siddeley Aviation and Dynamics were nationalised and merged with
British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) and
Scottish Aviation to form
British Aerospace. The late 1980s also saw Hawker Siddeley divest itself of much of its other North American heavy manufacturing enterprises. Its
Talladega,
Alabama-based
TreeFarmer heavy equipment business was sold to
Franklin Equipment in 1990 and its Canadian rail car production facilities were split between
SNC-Lavalin and
Bombardier in 1992. In 1992, Hawker Siddeley Group Plc was acquired by
BTR plc for £1.5bn. This was led by
Alan Jackson and
Sir Owen Green who were the CEO and Chairman of BTR respectively during this time. Through a series of takeovers, the business units finally became part of
Schneider Electric in 2014.
Hawker Siddeley name today In 1973, HS acquired the industrial electronics firm
South Wales Switchgear. Later known as Aberdare Holdings, in 1992 this company was renamed
Hawker Siddeley Switchgear (HSS). They have an Australian subsidiary,
Hawker Siddeley Switchgear Australia. Another company which retains the name is
Hawker Siddeley Power Transformers. In 1993,
British Aerospace sold its corporate jet product line to the American
Raytheon Company. In 2006 the product line was sold to a new company to be known as
Hawker Beechcraft, owned by
Onex Partners and
Goldman Sachs. ==Products==