In 1949 the Bristol Aeroplane Company set up a Guided Weapons Division, and those that worked in this new secretive venture became known as the forty-niners. This lead to some great successes for the company, including the Bristol Bloodhound surface to air missile, which entered service during the height of the Cold War.
MBDA are a European group (British, French, Italian, German and Spanish) created through a series of mergers and acquisitions. They carry on the legacy of those pioneers, and still operate some of Bristol's designs. This booklet will enlighten the reader to what has been created behind a veil of secrecy over the 70+ year history of guided weapon development.
Paperback booklet
32 pages