Sargent Fletcher is a subsidiary company of Cobham plc

Cobham plc

Cobham plc is a British manufacturing company based in Wimborne Minster, Dorset, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index...

. which makes aircraft equipment, including aerial refueling systems, external fuel tanks

Drop tank

In aeronautics, a drop tank is used to describe auxiliary fuel tanks externally carried by aircraft. A drop tank is expendable and often jettisonable...

, and special purpose pods.

History

Sargent Fletcher was founded in 1940, and bought by Cobham in 1994.

According to a 1991 report the company submitted to regional air quality officials, the company's El Monte chrome-plating plant showed the highest cancer-risk level of any business in the San Gabriel Valley

San Gabriel Valley

The San Gabriel Valley is one of the principal valleys of Southern California, United States. It lies to the east of Los Angeles, to the north of the Puente Hills, to the south of the San Gabriel Mountains, and west of the Inland Empire. It derives its name from the San Gabriel River that flows...

. It was later closed in 1998.

Customers

The KC-130J was supposed to be equipped with Flight Refuelling Ltd's Mk32B-901E hose-and-drogue units, but operational problems meant that the aircraft went into production using equipment from Sargent Fletcher instead.

Aircraft using Sargent Fletcher equipment include:

• Boeing 707
  Boeing 707
  The Boeing 707 is a four-engine narrow-body commercial passenger jet airliner developed by Boeing in the early 1950s. Its name is most commonly pronounced as "Seven Oh Seven". The first airline to operate the 707 was Pan American World Airways, inaugurating the type's first commercial flight on...
  
  
• Dassault Mirage 5
  Dassault Mirage 5
  The Dassault Mirage 5 is a supersonic attack aircraft designed in France by Dassault Aviation during the 1960s, and manufactured in France and a number of other countries. It was derived from Dassault's popular Mirage III fighter, and spawned several variants of its own.-Early development:The...
  
  
• Douglas A-4 Skyhawk
• Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon
• Lockheed HC-130
• Lockheed Martin KC-130
  Lockheed Martin KC-130
  The Lockheed Martin KC-130 is the basic designation for a family of the extended-range tanker version of the C-130 Hercules transport aircraft modified for aerial refuelling. The KC-130J is the latest variant operated by the United States Marine Corps, with 38 delivered out of 47 ordered...
  
  
• Lockheed MC-130
• Lockheed L-1011 TriStar
• McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle
• Northrop Grumman F-5 Tiger II
• Panavia Tornado
  Panavia Tornado
  The Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine, variable-sweep wing combat aircraft, which was jointly developed and manufactured by the United Kingdom, West Germany and Italy...