Тарихы мен дамуы: Thales Nederland B. V.

Company

Thales Nederland B. V. (formerly Hollandse Signaalapparaten B. V. or in short Signaal) is a subsidiary of the French multinational company Thales Group based in the Netherlands. The firm was founded as NV Hazemeyer's Fabriek van Signaalapparaten during 1922 by Hazemeyer and Siemens & Halske to produce naval fire control systems. During the Second World War, the company's factory was captured and pillaged by the German Army; shortly after the conflict's end, the remaining assets were nationalised by the Dutch government, the company being renamed N. V. Hollandsche Signaalapparaten (or Signaal for short). During 1956, the Netherlands based electronics company Philips became the majority owner of Signaal after buying a large portion of the shares from the government. The firm expanded throughout much the Cold War period, producing various naval electronics and defense systems for a range of customers around the world. During 1990, the French electronics and defence contractor Thomson CSF acquired Signaal from Philips; accordingly, Signaal was rebranded as Thomson CSF Signaal. Following the renaming of Thomson CSF to Thales in 2000, Thomson CSF Signaal was renamed Thales Nederland. Presently, the company is primarily involved in naval defence systems, such as sensors, radars and infrared systems. Other areas of business include air defence, communications, optronics, cryogenic cooling systems and navigation products.

The company was founded during 1922 in the city of the Hengelo, in the Netherlands as NV Hazemeyer's Fabriek van Signaalapparaten by Hazemeyer and Siemens & Halske. Initially specialising in the development of naval fire control systems, the company was established in the Netherlands as a means of getting around the restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles on Germany; there was a specific stipulation forbidding any German company from manufacturing military equipment. The first major contract to be secured by the company was for the production of the fire control systems of the HNLMS Sumatra and HNLMS Java, two of the Royal Netherlands Navy's Java class light cruisers. Throughout the interwar period, the firm expanded rapidly, gaining customers in overseas nations such as Sweden, Spain and Greece. During May 1940, amid the turbulent world events of the Second World War, the company's factory was captured virtually intact by the German Army, having invaded the country during the Battle of the Netherlands. In the latter part of the 1980s, another defense subsidiary of Philips, named Usfa, was partially merged with Signaal, becoming known as Signaal USFA. Throughout the latter half of the twentieth century, the firm continued to expand, opening up multiple factories across the Netherlands. By the end of the Cold War, Signaal had expanded to the point where it had customers in 35 countries and in excess of 5,000 employees. Shortly following the renaming of Thomson CSF to Thales during 2000, Thomson CSF Signaal was renamed Thales Nederland. The company has been involved in various other projects with EADS, which has since been rebranded as the Airbus Group. In February 2024 it was reported that Thales Nederland had tripled its radar production over the last few years.