Fairey Diversifies and Changes Owners

1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s

Heaton Chapel also designed and manufactured missiles the most notable being the Fairey Fireflash which was the first ever air to air guided missile operated by the RAF.

A radio-controlled target drone called the Jindivik (Aboriginal for "the hunted one") was manufactured in Australia and delivered to Ringway for assembly by Faireys. They were mostly flown at Llanbedr in North Wales for use as flying targets at the weapons trials range at Aberporth. Fighter aircraft would engage to try to shoot them down.

The Fairey Co. diversified into numerous areas such as mechanical engineering, nuclear and boat-building. Due to Government rationalisation strategies, the aircraft business was taken over by Westland Aircraft in 1960 and shortly after aircraft production ceased at Heaton Chapel. Fairey continued to repair and service aircraft at Ringway into the 1970s.

(Colour Photograph Bottom Left) - The Dry Support Bridge deployed after a landslide in Switzerland.

(Colour Photograph Top Right) - Jindivik Target Drone after Assembly at Ringway Picture attributed to RuthAs via Wiki Commons

The factory in Heaton Chapel became Fairey Engineering, part of Fairey Holdings, which was involved in medium and heavy engineering, including rapidly deployable portable bridges for the military and humanitarian relief.

In 1977 the Fairey Group was effectively nationalised by the Government and after various changes of ownership Fairey Engineering Ltd became part of Williams Fairey Engineering Ltd, known as WFEL. In 2012 WFEL was bought by German defence company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) who together with French defence company Nexter in 2023, rebranded their entire portfolio to create KNDS the leading land defence company in Europe.

The KNDS UK site at Heaton Chapel is the home of the Medium Girder Bridge (MGB) and the Dry Support Bridge (DSB), both the de facto NATO choice for tactical bridging. In operation since 1971, there are currently over 500 MGB systems in use by over 40 armed forces around the world. The DSB is the latest generation of military bridging made from a specially manufactured light-weight aluminium alloy under licence to KNDS. This bridge can span 46 metres and is deployed in 90 minutes with just 8 personnel. In 2019, the site was chosen to be a key partner in the Boxer armoured vehicle programme for the British Army. So, every Boxer made in the UK for the British Army starts its life at their purpose-built facility in Heaton Chapel.