Manufacturer catalog
Hunting Engineering Ltd was a British defence-engineering company within the Hunting group, formed in 1957 from the Weapons Research Division and associated with aircraft ordnance, munitions engineering and specialist Ministry of Defence work.
2 weaponsHunting's official history places the company in the postwar evolution of Hunting Aircraft and records that the Weapons Research Division became Hunting Engineering Ltd in 1957. The same source describes Hunting Engineering as one of the United Kingdom's leading defence contractors for a period, before Hunting Light Industries was formed in 1960 to hold Hunting Engineering and related non-shipping, non-oil businesses.
Public museum and research records connect Hunting Engineering to two distinct ordnance lines. Imperial War Museums identifies Hunting Engineering Ltd as creator on WE.177 and BL755 collection records, while BASIC's archival history of WE.177 says the company coordinated design authority work for the weapon's non-nuclear components and later handled structural, environmental and general post-design support. ODIN and museum records separately support Hunting's role in BL755 development, manufacture and testing.
Imperial War Museums holds a BL755 manufacturer's plate attributed to Hunting Engineering Ltd, and ODIN describes BL755 as developed by Hunting Engineering at Ampthill before production elsewhere in the company's network.
Sources: Manufacturer's plate from BL755 Cluster Bomb, BL755 British Cluster Bomb
IWM names Hunting Engineering Ltd as creator on a WE.177 Type B training bomb record, and BASIC identifies the company as coordinating design authority for the weapon's non-nuclear components.
Sources: WE 177 Type B training bomb, A History of the United Kingdom's WE 177 Nuclear Weapons ProgrammeThe official Hunting history says the Weapons Research Division became a separate entity called Hunting Engineering Ltd in 1957 and was, for a period, among the top ten defence contractors in the United Kingdom.
Sources: Official history book PDF
Hunting's history says Hunting Light Industries was formed in 1960 to own Hunting Engineering and other engineering businesses outside the group's shipping and oil activities.
Sources: Official history book PDF
BASIC's archival history says Hunting Engineering Ltd became coordinating design authority for WE.177 non-nuclear components and later handled structural, environmental and general support during the weapon's post-design service programme.
Sources: A History of the United Kingdom's WE 177 Nuclear Weapons Programme
ODIN describes BL755 as developed in the early 1970s by Hunting Engineering Ltd of Ampthill, Bedfordshire, while IWM's film record documents development, manufacture and testing of the BL755 airborne munition.
Sources: BL755 British Cluster Bomb, Bomb Cluster HE 600lb No 1 Mk 1 and 2 (BL755)
Hunting Engineering Ltd is documented mainly through official Hunting history, museum collection records and later defence/nuclear-history research rather than a current standalone company website. No reliable headquarters source was verified, so headquarters and coordinates remain omitted.
Category
Standalone missiles, bombs, rockets, torpedoes, and guided or unguided explosive payloads.
