Chemring Group is built on a hundred-year history of innovation and development which began in 1905 with the incorporation of the British Foreign & Colonial Automatic Light Controlling Company Limited. By the 1950s the company had an enhanced process for silver coating nylon filaments and lightweight radar reflectors used on Meteorological Office balloons to measure wind speed. Soon the Royal Swedish Air Board and the UK Ministry of Defence became interested in the coated filaments for use as chaff as a radar decoy.
Success through responsiveness
The Falklands war in 1982 was a significant event, highlighting a major threat to the British fleet from sea-skimming missiles. In a matter of weeks, Chemring opened a new factory to produce aluminium glass chaff decoys against this threat, and was acclaimed for its exceptional efforts during this period.
Chemring moved into IR decoys in January 1986 by acquiring pyrotechnics specialists Pains Wessex. In 1991 Chemring again rapidly increased production of countermeasures in support of the US-led coalition in the first Gulf War. By 1992 the company had acquired its main competitor, Hayley & Weller, which resulted in Chemring supplying the majority of UK Ministry of Defence’s countermeasure and military pyrotechnic needs.
In 1993 Chemring established its presence in the United States with its first US acquisition, Alloy Surfaces Company Inc. In 2001 Chemring acquired Kilgore Flares Company LLC, making the Group the largest provider of decoys to the US Department of Defense.
Growth in Energetics
Since 2005, Chemring has extended its technical capabilities in the field of energetic materials by targeted acquisitions, which have built upon and enhanced our extensive expertise in pyrotechnic, pyrophoric, propellant and explosive materials. This has created the current Group, which operates in four main market segments; Pyrotechnics, Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), Munitions and Countermeasures.