Background - Account of Events 1
AML has been the oldest armoury in Luxembourg since the 1950s. Throughout its life it has had three owners and two names. Formerly it was called "Armes et Munitions Lorang" until 2005 when its name was changed into "Armes et Munitions Luxembourg".
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The new owners, an industrial concern, involved in the production and global sales of various types of weapon systems, munitions and ordnance, with facilities in countries of the European Union and elsewhere, acquired the business as a vehicle which would enhance the concern's penetation into the lucrative market of countermeasures.
The countermeasures are missile decoys of two types, IR and RF : Infra-Red against Heat Seeking Missiles and RF against Radar Guided Missiles The IR decoys are known as FLARES and the RF ones are known as CHAFF. They are defensive, protection equipment against missiles in dangerous skies at all altitudes. They are sophisticated pieces of equipment and cannot be activated unless coupled to other complex devices. Principles of Countermeasures.
Luxembourg was justified as a location for the investment for a number of reasons. Most important were the following :
- Proximity to subcontractors in neighbouring countries. At AML only assembly would take place, using components, raw materials and parts supplied by other companies in the E.U and abroad.
- Proximity to raw materials sources, notably chemicals such as Magnesium, Teflon and Aluminium purchased from neighbouring countries situated all around Luxembourg.
- Excellent Logistics thanks to the national cargo airline which serves many destinations in Asia, Far East, South America, North America and Middle East where AML Customers are situated.
- The 400 sq.m floor space of AML and its existing permits and status permitted rapid establishment almost like a "turn-key" operation as soon as the investors had delivered expensive machinery, tooling, materials and skilled personnel would arrive.
It has to be noted that AML was licensed to sell ammunition, to reload ammunition but not to manufacture ammunition. This limitation was clear to the investors from start and for this reason the new product line was limited to countermeasures assembly.
Plans were layed for expansion later to a new site, possibly in the area of Esch-sur-Alzette. The investment called for an integrated plant for manufacture of all items related to countermeasures such as dispensers, aluminium cases, impulsers, etc.
The plant would be established in this area, to the south of the country, where suitable for rennovation industrial buildings existed following the decline of the steel industry in the 1990s.