Ensign-Bickford Company

The Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & Defense Company (formerly The Ensign-Bickford Company) is a manufacturer of hardware and energetic systems for use in spacecraft, military, and industrial applications. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ensign-Bickford Industries.

Ensign-Bickford Aerospace and Defense
EBAD
Founded1836 in Simsbury, Connecticut, US
FounderWilliam Bickford
Headquarters
Simsbury, Connecticut
,
United States
Number of locations
4 Locations (2020)
Key people
Chad Thompson, President
Number of employees
625 (Feb 2020)
ParentEnsign-Bickford Industries, Inc
SubsidiariesHoneybee Robotics

History

The Ensign-Bickford Company (EBCo) was started in 1836 in Simsbury, Connecticut as a manufacturer of William Bickford's safety fuse for use in mining. Safety fuse was a great advance in mining technology over the practice of filling holes with black powder.

The next step in mining technology was detonating cord. Ensign-Bickford and other companies developed different versions of detonating cord. In 1937, Ensign-Bickford trademarked "Primacord",[1] which became the functional generic name for detonating cord in North America. In May 2003, Ensign-Bickford sold the trademarks and processes to Dyno Nobel Inc[2] of Australia (formerly of Norway).

In 1956, EBCo began providing research and development work for Frankford Arsenal and Sandia National Laboratories to develop linear shaped charge, a product critical to the early strategic missile and launch vehicle programs. In 1965, the Space Ordnance Division was formed, making contributions to early NASA programs such as Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo. In 1987, the Space Ordnance Division became Ensign-Bickford Aerospace Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of EBCo, later becoming The Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & Defense Company.

Locations

In addition to its headquarters and manufacturing operations in Simsbury, Connecticut, EBAD has facilities in Graham, Kentucky, Moorpark and San Rafael, California.

Dyno Nobel building in Simsbury, Connecticut

Acquisitions
YearCompany Acquired[3]
2008Shock Tube Systems
2010SDI Defense and Aerospace
2010NEA Electronics
2017Honeybee Robotics
2017TiNi Aerospace, Inc
2018Avior Control Technologies, Inc

References
  1. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/476049/Primacord
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-04-02. Retrieved 2013-03-25.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "About Us » Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & Defense Company". www.eba-d.com. Retrieved 2017-07-12.


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