Bofors
heraldic logotype, featuring two lions upholding two circles containing the "Bofors arrow" (B-arrow), crowned by a lit grenade | |
Native name | Aktiebolaget Bofors |
---|---|
Formerly | Bofors-Gullspång Company Ltd. |
Industry | |
Founded | 1646Karlskoga, Sweden | in
Headquarters | Karlskoga, Sweden |
AB Bofors (
History
Located in Karlskoga neighborhood of Bofors, Sweden, the company originates from the hammer mill "Boofors", which was founded as a royal state-owned company in 1646 when P. L. Hosman was permitted to erect a forge at the site.[4] Sigrid Ekehielm, also known as Boås-Beata,[5] who lived from the 1640s to 1700, at one point owned it.[6]
The Bofors Works was acquired by Johan Eberhard Geijer (1733–1796) in 1762. It was then acquired by the latter's brother, Emanuel af Geijerstam.[7]
The modern corporate structure was created in 1873 with the foundation of Aktiebolaget
By 1911, AB Bofors-Gullspång had outcompeted, bought and closed down its Finspång Swedish competitor in cannon manufacture. The company's name was shortened to AB Bofors in 1919.[12]
When the Treaty of Versailles severely limited Germany from developing new artillery and banned its exports, German military companies started to offshore their R&D abroad, and Krupp, prohibited to develop guns under 17 cm in caliber, started to co-operate with Bofors already in 1919 in order to secretly engage in arms design and manufacture:
When, after the end of the war, it became a certainty that, for Krupp, gun production would come to a complete standstill, Krupp concluded an agreement with Aktiebolaget Bofors, a Swedish firm, which made available to Bofors information on Krupp's experiences relative to the production of steel in certain fields, and especially of steel for the manufacture of guns, also a license agreement on the basis of which Bofors was authorized to duplicate some types of Krupp's artillery designs, insofar as they were not classed as secret by the Reich. Krupp combined with this the intention of benefiting by the experience gathered at that end. Bofors pledged itself at Krupp's request to permit Krupp employees admission to its works at all times and to supply them with all desired information.[13]
Bofors was also able to take over pre-war Dutch and Danish contracts of Krupp in September 1919. Under an 1921 agreement the company agreed not to export any Krupp-derived materiel to the victors of WWI: the UK, US, France, Italy and Japan. The Swedish government fully endorsed all that activity.[14] Also, since 1920 Krupp held 31.8% of Bofors stock through its Swedish subsidiary AB Boforsintressenter despite a 1916 law prohibiting foreigners from having over 20% stock of a Swedish business. As a result of such a collaboration, Bofors prospered, and by the early 1930s it employed ~2800 people (not counting the supply subsidiaries).[15]
After Adolf Hitler's rise to power, the German rearmament became public and increased in scale so there was no more need in using front companies abroad, hence German armaments firm returned their R&D to the home turf. The Swedish parliament also banned foreign ownership of military industries in 1935, so Krupp had to liquidate Boforsintressenter and sell off its Bofors shares to Swedish entrepreneur Axel Wenner-Gren, who long had good connections with Krupp.
Karlskoga grew around the Bofors Works, which employed almost 10,000 people by 1970.[16] The arms industry created numerous job opportunities in the 1900s, contributing to the population boom of the city.
Throughout its history, the works has been linked to several influential Swedish families such as Robsahm, Liljeström, Flygge, and Ekehjelm.[4]
Present ownership
In 1999, Saab AB[17] purchased the Celsius Group, then the parent company of Bofors.[18] In September 2000, United Defense Industries (UDI) of the United States acquired Bofors Weapons Systems (the heavy weapons division), while Saab retained the missile interests.
The British company BAE Systems acquired UDI and its Bofors subsidiary in 2005, and BAE Systems Bofors is now a business unit of the Swedish subdivision BAE Systems AB, while the Swedish unit Saab Bofors Dynamics is part of Saab AB.[19]
Products
The name Bofors is strongly associated with the
Guns
(incomplete list)
- Bofors 20 mm Automatic Anti-Aircraft Gun L/70
- Bofors 25 mm Automatic Gun L/64
- Bofors 37 mm Anti-Tank Gun L/45
- Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/43
- Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60
- Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/70
- Bofors 57 mm Automatic Aircraft Gun L/50
- Bofors 57 mm Naval Automatic Gun L/60
- Bofors 57 mm Naval Automatic Gun L/70
- Bofors 75 mm Model 1929
- Bofors 75 mm Model 1934
- Bofors 105 mm Coastal Automatic Gun L/54
- Bofors 120 mm Automatic Anti-Aircraft Gun L/46
- Bofors 120 mm Naval Automatic Gun L/50
- Bofors 152 mm Naval Automatic Gun L/53
- Bofors Tracked Automotive Gun 155 mm L/50
- Bofors 155 mm Field Howitzer 77 A L/38
- Bofors 155 mm Field Howitzer 77 B L/39
- Bofors 155 mm Field Howitzer 77 BW L/39 L/52 (Archer)
- Bofors 283 mm Naval Gun L/45
Missiles
(incomplete list)
- BANTAM (Bofors Anti Tank Missile)
- BILL (Bofors Infantry Light and Lethal anti-tank missile)
- RBS 23
- RBS 70
Other weapons
(incomplete list)
- Bofors 375 mm multi-barrel ASW rocket launcher
- Bofors HPM Blackout high-powered microwave weapon system
Scandal in India
In 1986, the
See also
- Bofors Hotel
- The Bofors Gun – 1968 British drama film directed by Jack Gold, based on the play "Events While Guarding the Bofors Gun" by John McGrath
- List of modern armament manufacturers
- List of oldest companies
References
Citations
- ISBN 978-1-4058-8118-0.
- ISBN 978-0-521-15255-6.
- ^ Oza, B.M (1997). Bofors : The Ambassador's Evidence. India: Konark Publishers.
- ^ a b Jernkontoret 1920, p. 18.
- ISBN 978-91-87184-36-9.
- ^ "Sigrid Ekehielm", https://skbl.se/en/article/SigridEkehielm, Svenskt kvinnobiografiskt lexikon (SKBL) [Biographical Dictionary of Swedish Women] (article by Sofia Danielsson, translated by Alexia Grosjean), retrieved 2023-09-3.
- ^ Steckzén 1946, p. 28.
- ^ Bergengren, Erik (1962). Alfred Nobel: The Man and His Work. Edinburgh: Thomas Nelson & Sons Ltd.
- ^ Jernkontoret 1920, p. 19.
- ISBN 0444001174.
- ^ "Latter life". Alfred Nobel : Biography. Nobel Prize : Official website. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
- ISBN 0670845256.
- ^ Trials of War Criminals Before the Nuremberg Military Tribunals Under Control Council Law No. 10, Nuernberg, October 1946-April 1949. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1950.
- ISBN 9783642687921.
- ISBN 978-0-8262-6586-9.
- ^ Fransson, Stig A (2001). "BOFORS – förändringsvindar i gammal tid och nutid" (PDF) (in Swedish). Retrieved 29 November 2022.
Bofors är nu som störst och har nästan 10 000 anställda i Karlskoga.
- joint stock company
- ^ "Press release". Celsius group. 12 September 2000. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
- ^ Professor Øyvind Østerud, Professor Janne Haaland Matlary (March 2013). Denationalisation of Defence: Convergence and Diversity. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 152.
- ISBN 0850598400.
- ^ Bofors (in German). Karlskoga, Sweden: AB Bofors, Karlskoga (Boforskoncernen). 1936. pp. 30, 31, 32.
- ^ T Persson, Mats. "37 mm Pansarvärnskanon m/34 & m/38". tfd.chalmers.se. Archived from the original on 1 July 2007. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
- ^ a b "25 years of India's 'Watergate': The Bofors scandal". Yahoo! News. Archived from the original on 5 January 2016.
- ISBN 978-81-7049470-6.
- ISBN 0-67084525-6.
Works cited
- Jernkontoret (1920). "Aktiebolaget Bofors". Iron and Steel in Sweden. Jernkontoret. pp. 17–36.
- Steckzén, Birger (1946). Bofors historia 1646–1946 (in Swedish). Stockholm.
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