Rocket system 70mm (2.75"), rocket, rocket launcher, firing control system
Revenue
€21.7 million (2014)
Number of employees
70 (end 2015)
Parent
Thales Group
Website
www.fz.be
Forges de Zeebrugge (since 1 January 2017: Thales Belgium)[1] is an arms manufacturer in based in Herstal, Belgium.
Forges de Zeebrugge was founded as a munitions factory between Zeebrugge and Zwankendamme,[2] in the 1930s, as a subsidiary of Carcoke. During World War II, the site was taken over by German forces. Allied bombing, especially in July 1943, devastated the factory site; the original munitions factory was never rebuilt and later remediation of this site was difficult due to unexploded munitions.[3]
The surviving FZ business changed focus to rocketry.[4] In 1971, FZ bought the Fort d'Évegnée from Belgian Army, using it to store explosives.[5]
Modern-day FZ is a subsidiary of Thales, and is a leading manufacturer of aircraft air-to-ground rocket system (70mm, 2.75") including rocket launcher (7, 12 and 19 tube), rockets and firing control system.[6]
FZ rocket systems are qualified and in operational use on more than 300 platforms including Airbus Helicopters, AgustaWestland, Hindustan Aeronautics, BAE Systems, Embraer, General Dynamics, Hawker Beechcraft and other aircraft manufacturers. In 2011, FZ workers briefly went on strike, in response to a Belgian government reform of arms exports - which was triggered by FN exporting arms to Libya.[7]
In October 2015, FZ has successfully completed a test firing of its 70 mm laser-guided rocket (FZ275 LGR) from a Denel Rooivalk helicopter.[8]
In December 2017, an Airbus Helicopters H145M helicopter successfully launched a 70mm Laser Guided Rockets (FZ275 LGR) during its firing campaign at the Älvdalen test range of the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration Flight test Centre.[9]
^"Forges de Zeebrugge SA changes its company name to Thales Belgium SA".
^"History". FZ.
^"Carcoke, Zeebrugge". aDeDe. Archived from the original on 28 June 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
^"Home Page". FZ.
^"The Fort of Evegnée". FZ.
^"FORGES DE ZEEBRUGGE (FZ)". Australian Munitions. Archived from the original on 9 April 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
^"Reprise du travail à la FN Herstal, aux Forges de Zeebrugge et chez Pratt & Whitney". Le vif. 29 November 2011. Archived from the original on 20 August 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
^"Thales Test Fires Laser Guided Missile Developed Onboard Rooivalk Helicopter". Defense World. 30 November 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
ForgesdeZeebrugge (since 1 January 2017: Thales Belgium) is an arms manufacturer in based in Herstal, Belgium. ForgesdeZeebrugge was founded as a munitions...
has also been successfully tested in live fire exercises with the ForgesdeZeebrugge unguided rocket, converting it into a precision guided munition and...
Zaman, an short form of a Name Flydubai (IATA airline designator) ForgesdeZeebrugge, an arms manufacturer in Belgium Franc zone, a currency area in Africa...
various armaments, including podded Giat M621 20 mm cannon, 2.75 in ForgesdeZeebrugge (FZ) rockets (in pods of 19) or 68mm Thales Brandt rockets (in pods...
M621 cannon Fabrique Nationale de Herstal twin 7.62 mm or 12.7 mm machine gun pods 7 x 70mm (2.75") ForgesdeZeebrugge rocket launcher FZ220 or 12 x 68 mm...
left and right windows, or a pair of 68 mm (2.75") Thales Brandt or ForgesdeZeebrugge side-mounted rocket launchers, each with 19 rockets, or the MU90...
Vautour Hydra 70, American equivalent CRV7, Canadian equivalent ForgesdeZeebrugge, Belgian equivalent "SNEB rocket launcher pods". Flight Global Archive...
(such as the 70-mm-rocket launcher FZ233 from Belgian manufacturer ForgesdeZeebrugge). The helicopter can also be fitted with a FLIR camera turret, an...
2019. Retrieved 9 October 2021. "LCH (Light Combat Helicopter)". ForgesdeZeebrugge. Retrieved 9 October 2021. Siddiqui, Huma (17 January 2019). "HAL's...
démilitarisé, est exploité par Techspace Aéro, l'autre par les ForgesdeZeebrugge Visite dans deux forts discrets". Le Soir.be (in French). Retrieved...
responded with their book "Le Conte de fée des francs-tireurs de Dinant: Réponse au rapport du professor Meurer de l'Université de Würzburg." Meurer criticized...
on the Dover Patrol and took part in Battle of Zeebrugge, for which he won the D.S.O. and the Croix de Guerre. In memory of his wife in 1964 he presented...
provided by the Allies. Some historians claim the British spy T. E. Lawrence forged the photo. Several socialist parties initially supported the war when it...
bombardment. American troops quickly captured Malancourt, Bethincourt and Forges on the left bank of the Meuse and by midday the Americans had reached Gercourt...
Truce Forged by Germans, French and Scots". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 11 July 2012. Retrieved 31 December 2009. "Festival de Cannes:...
"During the second half of the nineteenth century, Japan's nation-builders forged the Meiji nation-state out of an older, heterogeneous Tokugawa realm, integrating...
Rotterdam-Maasvlakte 2, Wilhelmshaven-JadeWeserPort, Valencia, Gijon, Zeebrugge, Vado Ligure Reefer Terminal and Vado Gateway. North America: Los Angeles...
despatched from the port and he was picked by the German Navy in the sea near Zeebrugge. He earned membership of the "Caterpillar Club" as a result of this exit...
a single corps, Canadians began to refer to their country as a nation "forged from fire". Having succeeded on the same battleground where the "mother...
General Horne’s objective was to cross the French border into Belgium and forge a passage through the parallel rivers of the Grand Honnelle and Petite Honnelle...
in Europe, after Rotterdam. Other ports are Bruges-Zeebrugge, Ghent and Ostend, of which Zeebrugge and Ostend are located at the Belgian coast [nl]. Whereas...
social rights to enhance the integration of a hierarchical society, to forge a bond between workers and the state so as to strengthen the latter, to...
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