Kongsberg Gruppen - History

History

The company was established in 1814 as Kongsberg Vaabenfabrik (KV) (lit.: "Kongsberg Weapons Factory"), a name which remained virtually unchanged until 1987, when it took the name Norsk Forsvarsteknologi (NFT) (lit.: "Norwegian Defence Technology") after restructuring due to the sale of all civilian activity and financial troubles. The name changed again in 1995 to the present Kongsberg Gruppen following its listing on the Oslo Stock Exchange in 1993. In 1974, a Canadian subsidiary known as Kongsberg Mesotech Ltd was established for the development and manufacturing of underwater surveillance systems.

In 1987, the company was part of the Toshiba-Kongsberg scandal, which involved a subsidiary of Toshiba and the Kongsberg Vaapenfabrikk. The two provided the Soviet Union with technology (Toshiba milling machines and Kongsberg computer numerical controls) that could be used to produce quiet submarine propellers, in violation of the CoCom agreement. The US always relied on the fact that the Soviets had noisy boats. Providing the USSR with technology that could make their subs harder to find and track was perceived as a significant threat to America's security.

Read more about this topic:  Kongsberg Gruppen

Famous quotes containing the word history:

    Culture, the acquainting ourselves with the best that has been known and said in the world, and thus with the history of the human spirit.
    Matthew Arnold (1822–1888)

    There is a constant in the average American imagination and taste, for which the past must be preserved and celebrated in full-scale authentic copy; a philosophy of immortality as duplication. It dominates the relation with the self, with the past, not infrequently with the present, always with History and, even, with the European tradition.
    Umberto Eco (b. 1932)

    No one can understand Paris and its history who does not understand that its fierceness is the balance and justification of its frivolity. It is called a city of pleasure; but it may also very specially be called a city of pain. The crown of roses is also a crown of thorns. Its people are too prone to hurt others, but quite ready also to hurt themselves. They are martyrs for religion, they are martyrs for irreligion; they are even martyrs for immorality.
    Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936)