Manufacturers
The Anglo-French supersonic transport project was, at the time, a unique example of European civil aviation co-operation which provided the foundations for the modern-day Airbus consortium. Leading aeroplane manufacturing companies in England and France were responsible for key aspects of the development of Concorde; in France, Aerospatiale and Snecma and in the United Kingdom, the British Aircraft Corporation and Rolls Royce.
Six years into the Concorde project, the companies Sud Aviation, Nord Aviation and SÉREB merged to create the Aérospatiale Company. Aerospatiale worked with the British Aircraft Corporation on the design, development and construction of the main parts of the airframe.
In 1959 the British Aircraft Corporation, or BAC, was formed out of the Bristol Aeroplane Company, English Electric Aviation Limited, Vickers-Armstrong and Hunting Aircraft. In April 1977 the British Aircraft Corporation merged with the Hawker Siddeley Group and Scottish Aviation to form British Aerospace.
In post-Second World War Britain, a significant number of aero-engine manufacturers were still involved in engine construction, including the Armstrong Siddeley Company, Bristol Aero Engines and Rolls-Royce. In 1959 Armstrong Siddeley merged with the Bristol Aero Engines Company to form Bristol Siddeley, which then merged in 1966 with Rolls-Royce's aero-engine division. Since 1950 the Bristol Siddeley Company had been developing its Olympus engine, and the Concorde-derivation of the Olympus engine - the 593 - was developed in co-operation with Snecma from 1964 onwards.
The Société Nationale d'Étude et de Construction de Moteurs d'Aviation or Snecma was borne out of two separate companies dating back to 1905. Those companies had merged in 1915 to form the Gnome & Rhône Company. In May 1945 the French government nationalised the Gnome & Rhône Company to form the Société Nationale d'Étude et de Construction de Moteurs d'Aviation. Snecma was responsible, along with Bristol Siddeley/Rolls Royce for the engine systems of Concorde, specifically they developed the engine air intakes, the exhaust system, after-burner, thrust reverse and noise abatement systems.
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