Along with mass production of fuse mechanisms, it also developed Safety and Arming Mechanisms, S&A Units for many more of the sophisticated
weapons in development during and after World War II. These S&A units provided safe handling for
missiles whilst under transit conditions and safety for operator personnel up to the time of having to be armed. Bombs and missiles need specific launch conditions to be fulfilled to stop injury and fatalities to handlers during pre-launch. Most well known missiles from the UK after World War II had S&A units from ROF Blackburn, including
Blue Streak, and other weapons used during the
Falklands Crisis. During the Second World War over 5,000 worked at ROF. The brochure gives a fascinating snippet into life at ROF immediately after the war reporting that between 1946 and 1948 the factory produced over one million alarm clock movements before production once again switched back to the large-scale manufacture of mechanical fuses. Women were a key to the factory’s prodigious output. During the war around 3,500 women worked there producing 15,000 fuses every week, working 50-hour weeks. ==Post-war==