History

From January 2008 SELEX S&AS and Galileo Avionica will begin to operate internationally as a single company, within the Finmeccanica Group,  and will be known as SELEX GALILEO.   Historically both companies have traded separately and each has developed a strong client base and a reputation for excellence.  The name SELEX GALILEO celebrates this tradition and will facilitate continued brand recognition.
The integration process of the two companies started in May 2005 as part of the Eurosystems transaction between BAE Systems and Finmeccanica which brought together the majority of BAE Systems avionics and the whole of Finmeccanica avionics.
The SELEX GALILEO group is the successor to many famous British and Italian aircraft and defence electronics companies.
SELEX GALILEO is a world leader in defence electronics business and UK's and Italy's foremost supplier of electronic systems for military platforms. This expertise builds on an engineering and avionics heritage of over 100 years.
 

In Italy, Galileo Avionica was formed at the beginning of 2000 as the result of the merger of Officine Galileo, FIAR, Meteor, Alelco, Tecnospazio, Ce.Te.V., and the avionics branches of Aeritalia and Selenia (eventually merged in Alenia in 1990). Officine Galileo, in Campi Bisenzio near Florence, is where the headquarters of the company resides. Born in 1864, Officine Galileo, center of excellence in aiming tracking and firing equipment, in 1993 incorporated SMA, an historic radar company.  FIAR, established in 1941 as manufacturer of state-of-the-art radio-electric products, started in the sixties to produce airborne radar, still core to its Milano and Nerviano sites. From Officine Galileo, FIAR and subsequently Tecnospazio (born in 1987 as a joint venture between Comau and FIAR itself, owned at the time by LM Ericsson) a significant know how in the space sector was developed (attitude sensors, RF equipment, scientific payloads, robotics). The Caselle, Pomezia and Nerviano plants, avionics branches of  Alenia merged with OMI and Agusta Sistemi, consolidating advanced avionics expertise. Meteor was a privately owned company formed in 1947, to build small aircraft. In 1988, Meteor was bought by Aeritalia, to become the center of excellence in autonomous flight systems (target drones and UAVs) and training simulators. Alelco,  a Palermo based company, was formed in 1992 joining the Microwave tube divisions of  Elettronica and Alenia

In the UK SELEX S&AS has its origins in the Marconi Company (1898), who was responsible for some of the most important advances in radio and television.  Marconi was acquired by the English Electric Company (1946) who then accepted a takeover offer from the General Electric Company (1968).  GEC had contributed radios and bulbs to the WWI war effort and was involved in significant technological advances, notably radar, in WWII.  1945-1999 saw GEC become a foremost defence contractor, assisted by its acquisition of Plessey (1989) and Ferranti (1990-3).  Plessey had gained experience with a host of radar and aircraft systems during the World Wars and Ferranti was also involved in WWII as a supplier of electronics and the development of UK radar.  The defence arm of GEC was acquired by British Aerospace in 1999 to form BAE Systems.