Fairchild Systems

Fairchild Systems was a United States defense contractor which is now part of BAE Systems Electronics & Integrated Solutions. The San Francisco Chronicle described Fairchild Systems as "one of the legendary names of Silicon Valley" and that in "the late 1960s, [its] Bay Area operations were the training ground for the engineers who went on to found Intel and other top semiconductor companies." [cite news |first=Tom |last= Abate |title=Lockheed Shakes Up Operations; Key exec promoted, firm may trim units |work=The San Francisco Chronicle |publisher=The Chronicle Publishing |date=1999-09-28 |accessdate=2008-05-04 ]

History

Fairchild Weston Systems was acquired by Loral Corporation in mid-1989. The group was renamed as the Loral Fairchild Systems divisions of Loral Corp. [cite news|title=Loral picks three to head renamed Fairchild Weston units |work=Aerospace Daily |publisher=McGraw-Hill |date=1989-09-01 |accessdate=2008-05-04 ]

On 22 April 1996 Lockheed Martin completed the acquisition of Loral Corporation's defense electronics and system integration businesses, which included Fairchild, for $9.1 billion. [cite news |first=John |last=Mintz |title=Lockheed-Martin Loral Merger May Mean a Loss of Business; McDonnell Douglas Threatens to Cancel Billions in Contracts|work=The Washington Post |date=1996-04-23 |accessdate=2008-05-03 ] The company became Lockheed Fairchild Systems.

In 2000 Lockheed Martin grouped Fairchild with Sanders Associates and Lockheed Martin Space Electronics & Communications under the Lockheed Martin Aerospace Electronic Systems division. BAE Systems agreed to acquire the division in July 2000 and completed its acquisition on 27 November. [cite news |title=Contract for BAE|work=The Times |publisher=Times Newspapers |date=2000-11-28 |accessdate=2008-05-03 ] [cite news |first=Carl|last=Parreault|title=British aerospace firm buys Sanders |work=The Union Leader|date=2004-07-14 |accessdate=2008-05-03 ]

References