Bofors

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Bofors

The name Bofors has been associated with the iron industry for more than 350 years. Located in Karlskoga

Karlskoga

Karlskoga is an industrial town in central Sweden and the seat of Karlskoga Municipality, ?rebro County.The parish of Karlskoga was established in 1586 and a wooden church was soon built....
, Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic countries on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, and it is connected to Denmark by the ?resund Bridge in the south....
, it originates from the hammer mill "Boofors" founded 1646. The company was founded in 1873.

In 1999 Saab

Saab

Saab AB is an aerospace and defense company based in Sweden....
purchased the Celsius Group, then the parent company for Bofors.

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The name Bofors has been associated with the iron industry for more than 350 years. Located in Karlskoga

Karlskoga

Sweden

Saab

Saab AB is an aerospace and defense company based in Sweden....
purchased the Celsius Group, then the parent company for Bofors. In September 2000 United Defense Industries

United Defense

United Defense Industries was a United States defense contractor which is now part of BAE Systems Land and Armaments. This company produces combat vehicles, artillery, naval guns, Transporter erector launcher and munition....
(UDI) of the United States

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
acquired Bofors Weapons Systems (the heavy weapons division), while Saab retained the missile interests.

Thus Bofors is today split in two parts:

BAE Systems Bofors (BAE Systems
BAE Systems

BAE Systems plc is a British defense contractor and aerospace company headquartered in Farnborough, Hampshire, Hampshire, England, that has global interests, particularly in North America through its subsidiary BAE Systems Inc....
acquired United Defense and its Bofors subsidiary in 2005)
Saab Bofors Dynamics
Saab Bofors Dynamics

Saab Bofors Dynamics, located in Karlskoga, Sweden, is a subsidiary of Saab that specializes in military materiel such as missile systems and anti-tank systems....

Bofors' most famous owner was Alfred Nobel

Alfred Nobel

was a Sweden chemist, engineer, innovator, armaments manufacturer and the inventor of dynamite. He owned Bofors, a major armaments manufacturer, which he had redirected from its previous role as an iron and steel mill....
who owned the company from 1894 until his death in December 1896. He had the key role in reshaping the iron manufacturer to a modern cannon manufacturer and chemical industry

Chemical industry

The chemical industry comprises the companies that produce industrial chemicals. It is central to modern world economy, converting raw materials into more than 70,000 different products....
.

The name Bofors is strongly associated with a 40 mm anti-aircraft gun

Bofors 40 mm gun

The Bofors 40 mm gun is a famous Anti-aircraft warfare autocannon designed by the Sweden firm of Bofors. It was one of the most popular medium-weight anti-aircraft systems during World War II, used by most of the western Allies of World War II as well as various other forces....
based on a Bofors design which was produced and used by both sides during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
, and often called simply the Bofors gun. The gun saw service on land and sea, and became so widely known that anti-aircraft guns in general were often referred to as Bofors guns. Another well-known gun made by the company was the Bofors 37 mm anti-tank gun, a standard anti-tank weapon used by a variety of armies early in the war. It was license-built in Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian Enclave and exclave, to the north....
and the USA

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
and was also used in a variety of tanks, including the 7TP

7TP

The 7TP was the Poland light tank of the World War II. A development of the British Vickers 6-ton, it was significantly better armed than its most common opponents, the German Panzer I and Panzer II....
and M3A3 Stuart

Stuart tank

The M3 Stuart, formally Light Tank M3 was an United States light tank of World War II. It was used by United Kingdom and Commonwealth of Nations forces prior to the entry of the USA into the war, and thereafter by US and Allied forces until the end of the war....
.

In recent years Bofors has lost much of its reputation in Sweden due to various suspect affairs, the most scandalous being the alleged but never proved

Bofors scandal

The Bofors scandal was a major political corruption scandal in India in the 1980s; the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and several others were accused of receiving Political corruption#Kickbacks from Bofors for winning a bid to supply India's 155 mm field howitzer....
kickbacks involved in securing a contract with the Indian Army

Indian Army

The Indian Army is the largest branch of the Indian Armed Forces of India and has the responsibility for army military operations. Its primary objectives include defending India from external aggression, maintaining peace and security within the country, patrolling borders and conducting counter-terrorist operations....
in 1986.

Bofors

See also

External links