Vosper Defence
| Public limited company | |
| Industry | Defence industry |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Richard Vosper (CEO) Evangeline Bernard (CFO) |
| Products | Missiles Cruise missiles Firearms Ammunition Artillery Armoured fighting vehicles Ships UAV's Glide bombs |
| Revenue | 76.31 billion shillings (2020) |
| 22.04 billion shillings (2020) | |
| 11.28 billion shillings (2020) | |
Number of employees | 3,739 (2020) |
| Website | www.vosperdefence.com |
Vosper Defence PLC is a private Nuvanian military technology conglomerate established in 1986 from various state-owned armaments manufacturing and military technology companies that were privatised during the government of Johnathan Keaton. It is Nuvania’s largest arms manufacturer and one of the largest conglomerates of its type in the Asterias.
Through its subsidiaries, Vosper Defence produces and manufactures a range of military vehicles for the Nuvanian Armed Forces and various countries around the world, as well as firearms for global military and civilian markets.
Vosper Defence is separate from Vosper Civil, which controls the industrial and civil engineering branches of the wider Vosper conglomerate. Both are owned by Vosper Holdings, the holding company of all Vosper businesses.
History
Vosper Defence traces its history back to the Vosper Arms Factory established in Windstrand in 1908 by brothers Isaac and Henry Vosper, who also owned the Vosper Foundries that supplied steel and iron to the civilian and military shipbuilding industries. Utilising steel and iron from their own foundries, the Vosper brothers sought to increase revenues through arms contracts with the state through the licenced production of firearms. The factory began licenced firearms production in 1909 and ammunition production in 1910, with the factory becoming one of the largest assemblers of firearms in Nuvania and one of the primary suppliers of munitions to the Nuvanian government.
In 1918, the Volksfront regime attempted to nationalise the Vosper manufacturing and munitions factories but instead gave Vosper exclusive contracts for the manufacture and supply of certain weapons and spare parts, in addition to the production of ammunition. Vosper’s principal factory in Windstrand suffered minor damage during an Allied air raid in 1933, prompting the company to relocate to Constantia in 1934 to avoid further air raids and disruptions to production.
Postwar, Vosper’s munitions plants and factories were nationalised by the van Vollenhoven government, although they retained the Vosper name as part of an agreement reached between the government and the Vosper family, the latter acquiring royalties as well as some influence over the company. Under state ownership, Vosper expanded into the research and manufacture of various armaments and military vehicles for domestic and international customers, with substantial amounts of funding provided by the Nuvanian government.
In 1986, Vosper Defence was created from the privatisation of the company, which was done through the transfer of a majority of shares to the Vosper family, with the remainder listed on the Pietersburg Stock Exchange. Among the transferred assets includes the subsidiaries involved in the research and development of advanced weapons systems as well as manufacturing plants dedicated to the production of firearms, military vehicles, and munitions.
Under private ownership, Vosper Defence has become one of the leading suppliers of weapons systems to governments around the Asterias as well as the wider world.
Subsidiaries
Vosper Defence currently wholly owns x subsidiaries and has shares in a number of associated companies.
Vosper Defence’s current subsidiaries are the following:
- Vosper Advanced Dynamics: manufacturer of various drone and missile systems
- Vosper Defence Management: management subsidiary for company properties
- Vosper Kinetics: manufacturer of weapons as well as ammunition and projectiles
- Vosper Land Systems: manufacturer of military vehicles
- Vosper Marine: manufacturer of naval vessels and provider of maintenance facilities
- Vosper Technics: research and development arm
- Vosper Vehicle Systems: manufacturer of weapons systems for military vehicles