About Us
In a tree-lined office park in Orchard Park, NY, Cobham engineers and manufactures high pressure pneumatic systems used to store and control oxygen, helium, and other gases. Its array of products for mission and life support in space, military, and commercial aircraft applications includes aviation oxygen systems, regulators and reducers, actuation controls, pneumatic ejector rack systems, package testing, and personal survival kits.
At Cobham’s Westminster facility, a full line of lightweight composite pressure structures and assemblies is made. Carbon fiber wrapped over a spun aluminum liner to offer significant weight savings over conventional steel tanks, these structures are used in aerospace, marine, and life support applications. A commitment to providing the safest, highest quality pressure vessels in the industry is reflected throughout its history in the field, where Cobham has developed extensive engineering expertise and custom designs that stand strong over time, taking challenging engineering tasks from initial concept, through design and qualification, and finally into production.
Products
In summary, Cobham’s products include the following.
Weapons Deployment Systems
Actuation Systems
Space Environmental Control Systems
Thermal Management Systems
Oxygen Systems
Composite Structures
As a leading supplier of products and technologies supporting vital needs of the human body, Cobham manufactures a highly effective, compact, and lightweight personal microclimate cooling system for helicopter and ground crews in harsh environmental conditions that helps maintain core body temperature and mitigates thermal fatigue, which in turn, extends mission duration.
Another key product is the trademark next generation PHANTOM Jump Bottle System features a streamlined design giving the user better visibility and a longer oxygen supply than on an equivalent legacy system. With its regulator made of a unique oxygen-safe pressure reducer, PHANTOM launched in 2008 with a record order from the US military.
History
Founded in a private home in East Aurora, NY in 1955 as Carleton Aviation, its first product, a turbojet igniter, contained the regulator that is the foundation for Cobham‘s line of precision pneumatic controls. Carleton supplied oxygen regulators for the first Boeing 707 airliner and soon after, provided oxygen equipment for NASA’s nascent Project Mercury, which produced the first US manned space flights. Later projects included development of pressure-suit controllers for the military, oxygen valves for nuclear submarines, and complete atmosphere revitalization and pressure control system for the Space Shuttle program.
Name changes over the years include Carleton Aviation Company Inc. (1957), Carleton Controls Corporation (1961), Moog - Carleton Group (1977), and Carleton Technologies, Inc, a Cobham plc company (1987). Since 2009, Carleton Technologies, a part of Cobham plc for over two decades, is now marketed under the Cobham name along with all other Cobham companies worldwide.
Cobham Today
Today, building on its respected decades-old western New York-based tradition of producing elegant, highly engineered solutions for aircraft passengers, parachutists, and divers, Cobham in Orchard Park continues to be a major supplier to the space industry and also serves such specialized markets as actuation systems, weapons deployment, thermal management systems, and composite structures.
Center of Excellence
To integrate its product lines and better respond to its customers, Cobham established a weapons carriage and release Center of Excellence in support of existing systems and anticipating the future needs of its customers. Leveraging over 50 years of pneumatic expertise, Cobham continues to supply state of the art pneumatic carriage systems and multiple ejector rack systems in various configurations for the latest generation of small diameter bombs.
Environmental Responsibility
Preservation of the environment has been important to Cobham for many years. Recognizing the necessity of preventing pollution and using natural resources efficiently, it relentlessly monitors its manufacturing processes and improves product designs accordingly in order to minimize any negative environmental impacts. It encourages employees to be kind to the environment, at home and at work, promoting recycling and requesting that ‘paperless’ business be conducted wherever possible. Cobham complies with relevant environmental regulations and is ISO 14001 certified.
Goals
As a leading subsystems supplier with a comprehensive range of distinctive technologies, Cobham strives to deliver the highest value custom engineered systems solutions within its chosen markets.
While most customers have needs that offer unique challenges, there are some characteristics universal to all: being listened to and understood, being shown respect, being kept informed, and receiving superior value in the final product delivered on time at a fair price.
Constantly mindful of the goal of building trust and providing complete customer satisfaction, Cobham maintains its long-standing reputation in the industry as a company that offers top-quality, timely, cost-effective solutions to complex problems, and will continue to meet ever-changing market demands and the needs of its customers.
The most important thing we build is trust.