Leonardo Sistemi di Difesa
Leonardo Sistemi di Difesa is an Italian defense company part of the Leonardo conglomerate.
The plant based in Livorno came about when the Whitehead Torpedo Works was purchased by Giuseppe Orlando in 1924, one of the owners of the Cantiere navale fratelli Orlando of Livorno. Whitehead Torpedo established the Società Moto Fides that initially produced motorcycles but changed the production to that of torpedoes.
With the end of World War II the Fiume factory closed and merged with Moto Fides forming the Whitehead Moto Fides Stabilimenti Meccanici Riuniti on 31 July 1945.[1]
The Whitehead Moto Fides continued the production of torpedoes in a new plant which opened in 1977. It entered in the Fiat Group in 1979. They manufactured 1000 A244 light torpedo sold to 15 Navies.[2]
The Whitehead Alenia Sistemi Subacquei (WASS) produced heavy and light torpedoes, anti-torpedo countermeasure systems for submarines and ships and sonar systems for underwater surveillance.[3]
In 1995 the company passed definitely to Finmeccanica. It is now[when?] owned by Leonardo S.p.A., as the latter has been renamed since 2018.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "InStoria – Lo stabilimento Whitehead di Fiume". www.instoria.it. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
- ^ WASS History Archived 22 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ WASS Company Archived 22 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine
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