Oerlikon Contraves AG is a Swiss company, a manufacturer of small-caliber anti-aircraft weapons , now part of the German concern Rheinmetall AG . She gained fame for the development and manufacture of the widespread 20 mm Oerlikon gun, created on the basis of the 20 mm Becker air gun (named after the designer Reinhold Becker ), used by Germany (1918) at the final stage of the First World War . Oerlikon type S anti-aircraft gun of 20 mm caliber was widely used during the Second World War by Germany, France, Great Britain, the USA and Japan, that is, almost all the warring parties.
| Oerlikon Contraves AG | |
|---|---|
| Base | 1906 |
| Abolished | |
| Location |  Switzerland : Zurich |
| Products | |
| Turnover | € 281.6 million |
| Number of employees | 1727 |
| Parent company | Rheinmetall AG |
The machine tool company Oerlikon was founded in 1906. The name of the company comes from the name of the suburb of Zurich , in which the company’s factory is located. In 1923, it acquired the Swiss arms company SEMAG, and since 1924 it has been engaged in the arms business, in particular, the creation of anti-aircraft guns. In 1936 formed a subsidiary Contraves (from the Latin contra aves - “against birds”), the main focus of which was the development of anti-aircraft systems.
In 1937, the production of the most famous 20-mm anti-aircraft gun " Oerlikon " type S was launched, which was subsequently adopted by 30 states.
Between 1940 and 1944, the volume of transactions of the parent company Werkzeugmaschinenfabrik Oerlikon (WO) with axis powers — Germany, Italy and Romania — amounted to 543.4 million Swiss francs. francs, and included the supply of 7013 20-mm guns, 14.76 million pieces of cartridges for them, 12,520 spare barrels and 40 thousand rounds of ammunition.
In 1972, Oerlikon-Bührle merged with another arms company, Hispano-Suiza , after which the popular small-caliber guns Hispano-Suiza HS.820 and HSS-831 are designated Oerlikon KAD and Oerlikon KCB, respectively. Since the early 1990s, the company is known as Oerlikon-Contraves .
By the end of the 20th century, the number of employees at Oerlikon-Contraves reached 2100 people (including branches around the world), the annual turnover of 522 million Swiss francs . By 2000, Oerlikon became part of the large German arms concern Rheinmetall-DeTec AG.
January 1, 2009 Oerlikon Contraves received a new name - Rheinmetall Air Defense AG .
Currently specializes in anti-aircraft weapons of the ground forces and the Navy. The range of products includes: radar for detecting and tracking aerial targets of 35 mm anti-aircraft systems, 35 mm cannon systems, weapon control and guidance points, combat command and control systems, and air defense systems, ammunition calibres 20-, 25-, 27-, 30 - and 35 mm.
Already under the control of Rheinmetall, the company continued to develop and expand the capabilities of technology of a non-linking ammunition supply system, with the aim of its application on various media.
Content
Branches and units
Units
- Geartec AG is a machine-building division, separated into a separate branch.
Foreign affiliates
British affiliates - British Manufacture and Research Co Ltd
Italian branch - Oerlikon Aerospace, Inc.
Malaysian subsidiary - Syarikat Malaysia Explosives, Ltd. , abbr. SMEO , a joint venture with foreign investment , incorporated in 1969, jointly established by the Malaysian government , the West German concern Dynamit Nobel , the Swiss Oerlikon and two Malaysian companies - Syarikat Permodalan Kebangsaan and Syarikat Jaya Raya Sdn Bhd. Nationalized in 1974 by the method of redemption of shares in the authorized capital in the government and renamed SME Ordnance Sdn Bhd nd [1]
American branch - Oerlikon Tool & Arms Corp. of America (part of the Oerlikon Machine Tool Works), incorporated in 1951 in the state of Delaware , the head office of the Duria Building, Washington, DC . It was established to serve orders from the US Department of Defense , to adapt Swiss weapons to American standards and to mass-produce them in the United States, primarily for the production of anti-aircraft artillery, aircraft weapons and guided missiles ( SAM and ASWM ). [2] A set of research and production buildings in Suananom (a mountain village), 10 miles east of Asheville , North Carolina : an artillery factory, a full-cycle munition factory, an aircraft weapons plant, a missile plant and laboratories [3] (construction started 3 November 1951, [4] the construction of an ammunition plant began in March 1952, sold to the Wheeler Rocket Corporation on February 21, 1959, the missile plant was sold to the Celanese Corporation of America on October 17, 1960 and was named Amcel Propulsion, Inc. [5] ). The first president of the company (1952-1956) was the former deputy chief of staff of the United States Air Force on supply issues, retired lieutenant general Kenneth Woolf, while a former memberPresidential Council on Resources and Production . Subdivisions:
- Business Machines Division - office equipment and office equipment , analog computers, calculating devices .
Subsequently, the corporation was ousted from the US market. Subsequently, in relation to the North American arms market, Oerlikon acted remotely, cooperating with various local manufacturers in the USA and Canada. In 1979, Motch & Merryweather and its three auto parts manufacturing plants were acquired:
- Euclid , Ohio ;
- Windsor , Vermont ;
- Cambridge Massachusetts
which were reoriented to the production of industrial equipment, in particular drilling equipment [6] . It was later acquired by Arc Machines, Inc. specializing in the manufacture of welding machines . Branches at the present stage:
- Oerlikon Aerospace, Inc. - avionics
- Oerlikon Braking Systems - brake systems
- Oerlikon Plastic Machinery - plastic products
- Oerlikon Industrial Projects - Industrial Equipment
- Oerlikon Defense Weapon Systems - weapons
- Oerlikon Machine Tool Division - drilling rigs , milling machines , crushing and grinding equipment , grinding machines
West German branch of Boehringer - production of drilling equipment. Contraves - weapons.
Products
- Oerlikon GDF-005
- 35 mm Oerlikon Millennium artillery mount
- Ground Based Air Defense Unit: Oerlikon Skyshield
- Mobile Air Defense: Oerlikon Skyranger
- ADATS
- LLM01 laser light module for firearms LLM01
- RSA Missile
- RSD 58
- RSE Kriens (Missile
- SNORA and SURA-D rockets
- Mosquito (missile
Notes
- ↑ Walker, Robert E. Cartridges and Firearm Identification . - NY: CRC Press , 2013 .-- P. 139 - ISBN 978-1-4665-0206-2 .
- ↑ New Facilities . // Journal of the American Rocket Society . - January-February 1952. - Vol. 22 - No. 1 - P. 41.
- ↑ A First in Munitions . // Business Week . - March 15, 1952. - No. 1176 - P. 184.
- ↑ Munitions. // Business Week . - November 3, 1951. - No. 1176 - P. 146.
- ↑ Celanese enters missile field ... // American Machinist . - October 17, 1960. - Vol. 104 - No. 21 - P. 89.
- ↑ Profiles of Major Suppliers to the Automotive Industry. Volume 7: Machine Tool Suppliers to the Automotive Industry . - Bethesda, MD: Booz, Allen, Hamilton, Inc., August 1982.- P. 92.
Links
- Oerlikon Contraves Historie (German) . Rheinmetall Defense. - page Oerlikon Contraves company history on the manufacturer’s website. Date of treatment March 26, 2009. Archived February 29, 2012.