Matra

During 1945, Matra (Mécanique Aviation Traction) was established, immediately beginning development of an ambitious twin-engine aircraft intended to be the fastest propeller-driven plane in the world. During 1963, French businessman Jean-Luc Lagardère was appointed CEO of Matra; he would be a key figure at the company for the following three decades. At the time of Lagardère's appointment, the firm had a workforce of 1,450. That same year, the National Centre for Space Studies (CNES) and the European Space Agency (ESA) awarded a contract to Matra for the loading bay of the new Ariane expendable launch system. Matra i-step Runner, Tourer and Force as well as Matra i-flow in Romorantin. Matra developed and released a personal computer, the Alice. Matra, along with Harris Corporation, attempted to position itself as a leading semiconductor operation in Europe, establishing Matra-Harris Semiconducteurs (MHS) in 1979. Starting with Harris' CMOS fabrication process and targeting high-performance, high-volume niches, the company diversified into microprocessors and gate arrays, finally recording a profit in 1984. To supply its microprocessor production, MHS secured a licensing agreement with Intel in 1981 for the production of Intel's 8086, 8088, 8051 and 8052 families using an NMOS process, alongside Harris' 80C86 and 80C88 parts. The company also manufactured memory product designs from Cypress Semiconductor. Consolidation in the European semiconductor industry saw AEG acquire 50% of MHS in 1989. During 1988, Matra was privatised, at which point Lagardère acquired six per cent of the company's stock; by 1992, his stake in Matra had risen to 25 per cent. That same year, the Lagardère Group was radically restructured; acquiring more shares in Matra from Floirat, Daimler Benz and GEC, and Hachette from Floirat, Crédit Lyonnais and Aberly. Lagardère merged Matra and Hachette to form Matra Hachette, of which the Lagardère Group held 37.6 per cent. Following a share swap in 1994, Lagardère held 93.3 per cent of Matra Hachette's stock. During 1996, Matra Hachette was formally merged into the Lagardère Group. In February 1999, the firm's defence wing, Matra Hautes Technologies, was merged with French aerospace conglomerate Aérospatiale to form Aérospatiale-Matra. During 2003, following poor financial performances within the sector, Matra Automobiles became bankrupt and its assets were sold off once more. Instead, Matra decided to concentrate its resources on its remaining interests within the media and aerospace sectors. ==Matra Automobiles==

Matra had been involved in car manufacturing since the acquisition of Automobiles René Bonnet in 1963. Throughout the mid-1960s, Matra enjoyed considerable success in Formula 3 and Formula 2 racing with its MS5 monocoque-based car, winning both the French and European championships. Matra competed as a constructor in Formula One from to and as an engine supplier between and , winning the Drivers' and Constructors' championships in . Matra also competed in sports car racing from 1966 to 1974 winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans outright in 1972, 1973 However, at the end of the 1974 season, Matra announced that it had decided to withdraw from all motorsport involvement. The dismantling of the division was necessitated by Matra Automobiles having been declared bankrupt. During September 2003, Pininfarina SpA acquired Matra Automobile's engineering, testing and prototype businesses; the company was subsequently named Matra Automobile Engineering. On 13 January 2009, Pininfarina sold its share in Matra Automobile Engineering to Segula Technologies. Street models • Matra Djet • Matra 530 • Matra Bagheera • Matra Murena • Matra Rancho • Renault Espace • Renault Avantime ==Matra Hautes Technologies==

Matra Hautes Technologies (MHT) was the defence arm of the firm. The division was involved in aerospace, defence and telecommunications. During 1990, Matra Espace and the aerospace division of British electronics specialist GEC Marconi merged, creating Matra Marconi Space; the company had claimed this entity to have been the leading aerospace company in the European market at the time. Six years later, Matra Défense and British missile manufacturer BAe Dynamics merged to form Matra BAe Dynamics, a leading weapons manufacturer in Europe as well as the third largest in the world at the time. Divisions (as of Aérospatiale merger) • Matra Défense • Matra Systèmes & Information • Matra BAe Dynamics (50% British Aerospace), formed in 1996, Matra BAe Dynamics brought together the missile business of BAe (BAe Dynamics) and half of the missile business of Matra Défense. (The other half remained as Aerospatiale Matra Missiles). • Matra Marconi Space (49% GEC), was the space division of Matra which merged with the space operations of GEC (Marconi Space Systems) in 1989 to form Matra Marconi Space. In 2000, it was merged with the space division of DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG (DASA) to form Astrium. This was later renamed to EADS Astrium. • Matra Nortel Communications (50% Nortel) Weapons produced • R.511 air to air missiles • R.530 air to air missiles • Super 530 air to air missiles • R.550 Magic air to air missiles • MICA air to air missiles • R.422 surface to air missiles • Mistral anti-aircraft missiles • Martel anti-radar and anti-shipping missiles in association with Hawker Siddeley • ARMAT anti-radar missiles • Otomat anti-shipping missiles in association with Oto Melara • BLG 66 Belouga cluster bombs • Durandal anti-runway bombs • Pods for the SNEB unguided rocket ==References==