Dassault Falcon Aircraft
The company's successive
reorganizations
In view of the fact that Générale
Aéronautique Marcel Dassault's (GAMD) business had, due to the departure
of the Electronic department which had become an independent company,
refocused on airframes alone, Marcel Dassault considered the name GAMD to
be too general, and no longer justified and, on December 15, 1965, decided
to restore the company's original name, Avions Marcel Dassault.
Having seen off all the competition from state-owned companies, the
Dassault company had become the Air force's main supplier. Dassault's
presence in the combat aircraft field came about as a result of both the
quality of the aircraft on offer and produced, and a government choice. On
October 18, 1965, Pierre Messmer, the minister for the Armed services,
notified Sud-Aviation's chairman that his company was to continue to
specialize in the field of transport aircraft, helicopters and missiles,
adding that it would be damaging to national interests for military
aircraft design offices to be set up or developed while the work load of
the most active companies in this sector was not guaranteed. In 1966, the
Armed forces ministry, in a concern for industrial rationalization, wanted
to continue to specialize companies. Nord Aviation was to devote itself to
ballistic missiles, Sud-Aviation to business concerning civil and military
transport aircraft and helicopters, and Dassault was to concentrate on
combat aircraft and business aircraft.
The
Government, worried about the development of the Jaguar program, asked
Marcel Dassault to buy back Breguet Aviation. On June 27, 1967, the
Société des Avions Marcel Dassault company acquired a 66% share in Breguet
Aviation's capital held by Sylvain Floirat and the Penhoet company. On the
same day, Breguet Aviation's Board of Directors appointed Benno Claude
Vallières as its chairman.
A merger deal involving Breguet Aviation
taking over the net assets of the Société des Avions Marcel Dassault
company was signed on July 21, 1971. The merging and dissolving of the
Société des Avions Marcel Dassault company was finalized on December 14,
1971 (with a retroactive effect dating back to January 1, 1971) as a
result of the resolutions adopted by Breguet Aviation's extraordinary
general Assembly which approved the merger project, the increase in
capital and the resulting statutory modifications. Breguet Aviation's
extraordinary general Assembly also decided to change the company's
corporate name to Avions Marcel Dassault - Breguet Aviation (AMD-BA).
Following Marcel Dassault's death on April 17, 1986, AMD-BA's Board of
Directors appointed Serge Dassault as the new chairman on October 29 of
the same year.
History
Louis Charles Breguet was born into a
family tradition of engineering science. He developed an early interest in
the fledgling aeronautic technology and in 1905 developed a sophisticated
wind tunnel in which he was able to measure and evaluate in depth the
effects of airflow on airfoils. He was among the few pioneer aircraft
designers who understood the vital need for pre-flight experimentation and
testing, and the urgency of highest quality construction for safety.
His first aircraft was produced in 1909,
a rugged biplane of high quality and performance. It not only became
notable for establishing speed records, but also set the standards of
quality accepted throughout the aviation industry. In 1911, his interest
in air transportation gave him the distinction of being the first to carry
12 people aloft in an aircraft.
World War I assured the success of his
company as they produced some 8000 of the famed Breguet XIV reconnaissance
aircraft for the Allied Forces, thereby contributing to victory and the
emergence of air power. His more advanced Breguet XIX made history in the
postwar years for its ability to fly long distances across oceans and
continents.
In 1919, Louis Breguet established a
commercial air transportation company, Compagnie Des Messageries Avienne,
which now spans the world under the name Air France, and under Breguet's
technical guidance the Societe de Avions maintained prominence in the
French aviation industry in production of civil and military aircraft.
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