ECA GROUP

History

Year	Detail
1936	Marcel Gianoli founded the ECA company (Etudes et Constructions Aéronautiques) in Meudon (France) in 1936.
1940	ECA received First project in the Maritime sector, entitled "air torpedo with automatic pilot and remote control".
1952	The company has started a new segment, ECA's Aeronautical Devices.
1958	It has developed the Aeronautics, Naval Defence and Simulation construction workshop and Designed new components for the French Navy (steering simulator & longitudinal maneuvering console for submarines.).
1960	ECA had received the contract to develop a 1:10- scale model of a ballistic missile submarine to test hydrodynamic shapes. ECA had made its entrance in the nuclear program developed by the French president, General Charles de Gaulle.
1966	Creation of ECA Sud-Est for robotics developments and Developed Numerous components & systems for underwater applications and Robotics systems for the offshore oil industry (ELF AQUITAINE, TOTAL).
1970	It has created PAP 104, the first underwater mine detection and destruction robot (DGA).
1979	ECA has Designed and Constructed the first AUV for IFREMER: the Epaulard.
1980	Established its first Subsidiary in the U.K., CSIP, and first sales of PAP MK5 on the international market, to the British Navy (1983), Japanese Navy (1996), and Turkish Navy (1998).
1992	The Gorge Group (at that time known as Finuchem) became the majority shareholder in the ECA Group.
1999	Acquired HYTEC, and MATRA's Systems and Information business and Design of the first flexible assembly lines dedicated to the A340 (AIRBUS), then the A380 (2001).
2002	The company has developed K-STER robot (mine killer).
2003	ECA Group developed the ALISTAR 3000 AUV, urban combat robots (MiniROC/DGA), and the H1000 work class ROV (French navy).
2005	It has formed a AUV partnership agreement with THALES, and Nuclear decommissioning for FRAMATOME.
2006	Acquisition of ECA FAROS, the terrestrial division of CYBERNETIX (Saclay), of ELECTRONATEC renamed ECA EN, of ECA CNAI and ECA SINTERS.
2007	Development of autonomous surface drones, AUVs and commercialization of the combined A320/B737 flight simulator.
2009	The company has acquired TRITON IMAGING INC.
2010	The creation of the ECA Group Asia subsidiary was set up in Singapore.
2014	Acquisition of INFOTRON specialized in aerial drones / UAVS, Created ECA RSM - commercial entity dedicated to exportation and developed Military Vehicle Simulators.
2015	Established ECA Drone - UAV Services company. The stake held in Wandercraft & creation of ECA Dynamics, a joint venture to develop Humanoid Robotics for Defence & Security.
2016	ECA Group acquires BE Mauric, a naval architecture office, ELTA from Areva. Established a new segment called ECA Aerospace.
2017	Started researches for IT180 UAV navalization in partnership with NAVAL Group.
2018	ECA ROBOTICS settles in Belgium and creates ECA ROBOTICS BELGIUM subsidiary. MAURIC and ECA Group unveil OCTOPODA: a new range of motherships for mine warfare carrying unmanned systems.
2019	The company has successfully demonstrated Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) system for Aluminium smelters and launched INSPECTOR 125 - ECA GROUP unveils its new unsinkable unmanned surface vehicle (USV) from sea proven platform.
2020	ECA GROUP has started to build its plant in Ostend to manufacture naval drones for mine clearance and upon Completion of merger between Groupe Gorgé and ECA, its share got delisted from the Euronext stock exchange.