Strengths

Significant achievements

  • SELEX Galileo is the UK’s largest defence electronics manufacturing centre, with nearly 2,000 employees based at its Edinburgh site. SELEX are a leader in the design and supply of electronic radar systems and counter measure suites for a range of platforms including Typhoon Eurofighter, SAAB Vixen and the F-35 Lightening Joint Strike Fighter
  • Thales Optronics also have a significant Scottish presence, with over 650 employees based at it’s Glasgow site, specialising in the design and manufacture of speciliast equipment for airbourne targeting, survielience, counter measures and infra-red search & tracking. 
  • Global defence giant BAE Systems operates a sizeable facility providing specialist design and manufacturing of subsystems including altimeter systems, avionics for flight military flight data recorders and assemblies for radar guidance and detection.
  • Teledyne Controls have been designing, manufacturing and maintaining civil aircraft data and information management systems for a range of airline customers including British Airways, Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines. These Flight Data Recorders (FDR’s) and Quick Access Recorders (QAR’s) take the form of traditional tape based systems and more recent solid state digital recorders
  • Many fast moving, smaller companies are also serving the avionics industry from Scotland including Copernicus Technologies, who offer avionic diagnostics technologies to tackle no fault found events – which account for 75 percent of all avionics failures and Trig Avionics, who specialise in low power, high technology avionics products such as Mode S transponders for general commercial and civil aviation collision avoidance systems

Supportive infrastructure

  • Scotland is home to over 150 aerospace-related companies employing some 18,000 staff
  • Excellent links to the rest of the UK, Europe, North America and elsewhere in the world
  • Scotland has four major international airports, among them is the world's busiest heliport

Skills and expertise

  • Skilled workforce and wide pool of graduate talent
  • World-class research taking place in several electronics technologies at many academic institutions
  • First-rate research, design and manufacturing facilities are available for avionics at several locations across Scotland

Collaboration

  • Strong industry financial support mechanisms are available, including grants for research, technology development, support for commercialisation and support for training
  • Home-grown businesses complement some of the world’s largest aerospace companies

Cost-competitive

  • Supportive political administration provides substantial levels of funding
  • Cost-competitive salary rates for highly qualified and experienced staff