The story
Founded by Alan Cobham on Oct 29, 1934.1
1930s to 1990s: Formation, early activities and growth
During the 1920s and 1930s, aerial refuelling of aircraft in mid-flight was performed only on an experimental basis, typically for attempts to set new flight endurance records. During this era, Alan Cobham became an accomplished pilot, winning multiple air races as well as the de Havilland aircraft company appointing him as their senior pilot. Cobham decided to leave de Havilland to pursue his own ventures, including the formation of an aerobatic troupe and a small airline; he embarked on a long term campaign to popularize commercial air travel, making efforts to secure both public and the British Government's backing for the sector.
Cobham believed that practical in-flight refuelling techniques would revolutionise commercial airlines and enable new long distance air routes; however, development work later focused largely upon its military applications. He founded a new company, known as Flight Refuelling Limited (FRL), in 1934 that was initially headquartered at RAF Ford in Sussex.
During 1939, the company played a role in several non-stop crossings of the Atlantic performed by British airline Imperial Airways; yet, the adoption of aerial refuelling by the United States Air Force during the initial post-war years most prominently highlighted the company's technological value.
During 1947, the company relocated to Tarrant Rushton in Dorset. From 1948-9, it was contracted to carry liquid fuel as part of the Berlin Airlift, in what would be known as the 'Liquid Lift'. During the late 1940s, the company's aerial refuelling equipment broke new ground, including a round-the-world flight by specially equipped Boeing B-50 Superfortresses in 1948 and the demonstration of the since-widely used 'probe and drogue' method of air-to-air refuelling for the first time in 1949. The Royal Air Force (RAF) would soon adopt the probe-and-drogue approach, as would various other international customers. Cobham's air-to-air refuelling system was perhaps most crucially used during the Falklands War of 1982, being used to facilitate the long-distance sorties of the RAF's Avro Vulcan bombers for Operation Black Buck, successfully reaching and bombing the Argentinian-held airfield at Port Stanley on the islands.
During 1954, Michael Cobham, Alan's son, took a role in the company; he soon began to steer Cobham to diversify into new markets. One such venture was the reorganising of Cobham Group's Airfield Services division into the newly incorporated FR Aviation, which saw contractor-owned and operated aircraft operate directly alongside military customers. Communications and electronics were other key sectors of interest.
In 1963, the firm centred its manufacturing activity at its new site in Ashington, Wimborne in Dorset. During 1969, Michael took over the leadership of the business from Alan; he remained as Cobham's chairman and chief executive through to the mid 1990s.
During 1985, Cohbam became a public limited company; despite the stock flotation, the Cobham family retained a large stake in the business. As a consequence of various acquisitions and internal growth, Cobham developed various product lines across the aerospace market for both civilian and military, and thus its in-flight refuelling technology became a relatively small element of Cobham's portfolio over time.
In 1994, the firm was formally renamed Cobham plc. By this time, the company had in excess of 10,000 employees and had operations present in North America, Europe, Malaysia and South Africa.
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1990s to 2019: Acquisitions and disposals as a listed company
In September 1997, Cobham acquired ML Aviation for £37 million, which had taken over Nash & Thompson, a major competitor, the previous year.
In June 2001 Cobham acquired Sierra Flight Systems and merged it into its Chelton Avionics business, naming the combined division Chelton Flight Systems.
In early 2008, Cobham purchased S-TEC Corporation, maker of general aviation autopilots, for $38 million; during February 2008, the company also bought the sensor and antenna systems division of BAE Systems for $240 million. In June 2008, Cobham acquired Sparta Inc., a US defence business, for $416 million (it was renamed Cobham Analytic Solutions). In September 2008 Cobham completed the purchase of the radio frequency components business of M/A-COM for $425 million. In April 2009, Cobham agreed to purchase Argotek Inc., a provider of high-end information assurance services to the United States Intelligence Community, for $36 million. In June 2009, a Cobham – Northrop Grumman 50–50 joint venture won the US Army's US$2.4 billion competition to supply Vehicular Intercom Systems.
In October 2011, Cobham Analytic Solutions was sold for $350 million to the privately owned Parsons Corporation. Then in June 2012, Cobham acquired Danish satellite communications company Thrane & Thrane A/S, making it the core of Cobham's new SATCOM strategic business unit (SBU), to include SeaTel marine, TracStar land and Omnipless airborne SATCOM product lines.
In May 2013, Cobham acquired antenna systems business, Axell Wireless. In July 2013, the company bought out FB Heliservices joint venture partner Bristow Helicopters. In April 2014, Cobham sold Chelton Flight Systems and S-TEC Corporation to Genesys Aerosystems. Then in May 2014, Cobham acquired wireless communications company, Aeroflex Holding Corporation for $1.46 billion.
In August 2016, David Lockwood was named CEO, replacing Bob Murphy.
2019 onwards: Private equity ownership and further restructuring
In July 2019, the company's board agreed to recommend a takeover offer of £4 billion from American private equity firm Advent International. However, the bid was criticised by Cobham's largest shareholder, and the firm's chairman subsequently remarked that Cobham was seeking out alternative offers. In response, Advent issued several guarantees, seeking to mollify national security concerns ahead of pending approval of the deal by the British Government. The UK Conservative government approved the takeover in December 2019. The transaction was completed on 17 January 2020. The communications division was sold off in November 2020 to TransDigm Group Inc. for $965 million.
After 18 months, Advent had already sold the bulk of Cobham's operations to other buyers, leaving it with no UK manufacturing operations.
In September 2020, Draken International purchased Cobham Aviation Services based in Bournemouth and Teesside International Airport, and renamed it Draken Europe. Cobham's 15 Dassault Falcon 20 aircraft, were added to Draken's fleet.
On 1 June 2021, Eaton completed their acquisition of Cobham Mission Systems for $2.83 billion, 14 times the company's 2020 earnings.
In August 2021, the British aerospace and defence company, Cobham proposed a £2.6 billion purchase of Ultra Electronics. As the latter was a key national security and defence contractor and Cobham was American-owned at the time, the acquisition was the subject of a national security review. In July 2022, the UK government approved the transaction subject to undertakings by Cobham and Ultra.
In July 2023, French multinational Thales Group entered into a deal to acquire the aerospace communications business of Cobham for $1.1 billion, which completed during the first half of 2024.
In 2025, it was announced that US-based power solutions manufacturer Eaton Corporation had agreed to buy Ultra PCS Limited from Cobham Ultra Group for $1.55 billion. The deal completed in January 2026.
In June 2026, it was announced that Booz Allen Hamilton had agreed to acquire the Ultra I&C Mission Solutions business (Ultra Mission Solutions) for $720 million. Ultra Mission Solutions is a division within Ultra I&C specialising in mission‑critical software, encryption, and edge‑compute products.
On 6 July 2026, it was announced that Lockheed Martin had agreed to acquire Ultra Maritime for $3.45 billion. Upon completion of this transaction, the Cobham Ultra Group will comprise just the Cobham I&C business and the C16 Ventures business.
From Wikipedia’s article on Cobham Limited, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5