France
Dassault Aviation is an international French company that manufactures military, business, and regional jets. They are a subsidiary of the Dassault Group. The Dassault Aviation Group is an impressive international group that comprises most aviation activities that the Dassault Group is involved in.
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Marcel Bloch founded the Société des Avions Marcel Bloch in 1929. Six years later he and Henry Potez agreed to buy Société Aérienne Bordelaise. In 1936, France nationalized the arms industry as Société Nationale de Constructions Aéronautiques du Sud Ouest, and Bloch was the delegated administrator of the Minister for Air.
When France was occupied, the aviation industry was almost completely disbanded, and Bloch was imprisoned until 1940. He was liberated from the Buchenwald concentration camp in 1945. That same year at a meeting, the company voted to change to a limited liability entity. The company was now called Société des Avions Marcel Dassault.
1954 saw the creation of an electronics division that focuses on airborne radars and seeker heads used for bombing, air-to-air missiles, and navigation. Dassault was stressed that it should specialize in business and combat aircraft by the French government.
At the urging of the French government in 1967, Dassault acquired 66% of Breguet Aviation.
In 2000, Dassault Aviation acquired Atlantic Aviation. Shortly after, they made major developments in I.T. and replaced drawing boards with 3D computer modeling. This technology, as well as other advancements, made it possible for the company offices to work together and to meet very short deadlines.
The parts and assembly of the Falcon 7X were the first to be carried out without adjustments or corrections, thanks to this improved communication and technology.
Dassault Aviation was being suspected of corruption charges in 2018 in India. Most of the charges have been dropped.
This company has been credited with creating more than 100 prototypes in the past 100 years. They also have delivered more than 10,000 aircraft to 90 countries throughout the world. They are considered to be an expert in a few different technologies that have been noted as key to national sovereignty.
There are currently 1,000 combat aircraft that are in service today. Additionally, Dassault Aviation has 2,100 Falcon jets currently in service.
Even though Dassault spends a lot of time and energy working to make sure that their planes are as safe as possible, accidents and crashes can still occur. The Dassault Falcon 50 jet has a long history of being involved in multiple crashes.
As of 1994, there were four fatal crashes involving this jet, but a total of eight different incidents involving this particular aircraft, even though some did not even result in a crash landing. Not only were there crashes in Rwanda in 1994, Russia in 2004, and New Jersey in 1985, but a fatal crash in Greenville, SC, in 2018.
The jet overshot the runway in this crash and snapped in two. Both of the pilots were instantly killed and the two passengers in the jet were placed in critical condition.
Headquartered in Paris, France, Dassault Aviation operates various facilities around the world.
Dassault Aviation operates sales offices that are based throughout the world. They currently have sales offices in China, Malaysia, Russia, Greece, Oman, and Taiwan.
There are multiple production facilities for Dassault Aviation. Their production facilities are located in St. Cloud, Argenteuil, Biarritz, Merignac, Talence, Lorraine, and Nagpur, India. They also have service facilities in the United States, France, Brazil, and China.
Dassault Aviation has a subsidiary, Sogitec, that is involved in the creation of avionics simulation, military flight simulators, 3D imaging, and document imaging systems.
As of 2018, the company had 11,494 employees.
This company is currently owned by a few different groups. The Dassault Group owns 62.17% of the company, Dassault Aviation owns 0.46%, Airbus owns 9.93%, and others own 27.44%.
Éric Trappier is the chairman and CEO of Dassault Aviation. He is an engineer and a French businessman who started working for Dassault Aviation shortly after graduation. Before being appointed as the CEO, he was the international executive VP of the company. Charles Edelsteen was the CEO before being replaced by Trappier.
In 2018, Dassault Aviation reported a revenue of €5.084 billion. Their total assets in 2018 were listed at €16.976 billion.