Royal Ordnance
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Royal Ordnance was the new company name of the United Kingdom government-owned Royal Ordnance Factories which were privatised in 1984. They were bought by British Aerospace (BAe) in 1987, which became BAE Systems in 1999, but the sites still retained their former name, either as Royal Ordnance or later RO Defence. The sites eventually were merged in 2004 into BAE Systems Land Systems, now part of BAE Systems Land and Armaments and are no longer known as Royal Ordnance sites.
The Royal Ordnance Factories (abbreviated ROFs) manufactured explosives, ammunition, small arms including the Lee-Enfield rifle, guns and military vehicles such as tanks.
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Lineage
The Royal Ordnance Factories can trace their history back to 1560 with the founding of the Royal Gunpowder Factory (RGPF) at Waltham Abbey. This was linked to the Royal Small Arms Factory RSAF at Enfield Lock and the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich. All were based near London—but not too close in case of explosion. The title of Royal Arsenal was introduced in 1805 to encompass the Royal Laboratories, Royal Gun Factory, and the Royal Carriage, which were originally separate and based in Greenwich.
In 1927 these Royal Factories were transferred within the War Office from the Ministry of Munitions to the Department of the Master-General of the Ordnance.
As World War II loomed, a further 40 ROFs were built by the Ministry of Supply, in the late 1930s into the 1940s, employing around 300,000 personnel.
Privatisation
On 2nd January 1984, "Vesting day", the twelve ROFs that still remained open, plus the Waltham Abbey South site, RSAF Enfield and three Agency Factories, became a UK Government-owned company: Royal Ordnance PLC. Its headquarters was moved to ROF Chorley, Lancashire and its Registered Office was located in London.
Consolidation into BAE Systems
Royal Ordnance PLC, with the exception of ROF Leeds, was sold in 1987 to British Aerospace (BAe) for 180 million pounds; becoming known as Royal Ordnance Defence (RO Defence). Vickers had objected to the Government's sale of ROF Leeds, which made tanks, to BAe. It was therefore allowed to buy ROF Leeds, in 1987, for 15 million pounds. (The Leeds factory has now closed; and Alvis Vickers became part of BAE Systems).
At the time of the sale, RO Defence had 16 factories; and some 19,000 personnel were employed. Since then, it has closed and sold its sites at Waltham Abbey South, RSAF Enfield, ROF Patricroft, most of Royal Ordnance (RO) Chorley, RO Summerfield and RO Bishopton. However, in April 1992 BAe / RO Defence bought BMARC and Poudrieres Reunies de Belgique (PRB) from the receivers of the failed Astra Holdings; and later Muiden Chemie. In 1991 RO Defence also bought the small arms ammunition interests of Heckler & Koch; this group was sold in 2002 to Heckler and Koch Beteiligungs GmbH.
In 1999 BAe merged with Marconi Electronic Systems, the defence interests of GEC, at the same time changing its name from British Aerospace to BAE Systems. In 2004 BAE Systems acquired Alvis Vickers Ltd which merged with the RO Defence business and ex-GEC plants at Barrow-in-Furness and Leicester to form BAE Systems Land Systems. This organisation was further strengthened in 2005 when BAE Systems took over the US company United Defense Industries and added it to the Land Systems business group to create BAE Systems Land and Armaments.
