A FORMER arm of the Cobham aerospace empire which was sold last year has been given a new name.

Cobham Aviation Services UK, based at Bournemouth Airport, was bought by Draken International in September and has now been rebranded as Draken Europe.

The business has been based at the airport for 36 years and supports more than 300 local jobs.

The move does not affect Cobham Mission Systems in Wimborne, which was the headquarters of the aerospace group sold in a £4billion deal in 2019.

Government signs off on £4billion takeover of defence giant Cobham

Cobham Aviation Services is best-known for providing operational readiness training and helicopter support services to the Ministry of Defence for more than three decades.

The business has been named Draken Europe to differentiate it from its American counterpart, Draken US.

Draken Europe chief executive Paul Armstrong said: “We are thrilled to formally announce our new brand.

“The new unified Draken identity reflects our global reach and breadth of experience, with our new ownership seeing us well-placed for the future. The combination of Draken US’s aggressor red-air expertise, and our broad aviation training, engineering and special mission expertise gives us a uniquely strong position to grow the business globally.”

The Draken logo and branding has been rolled out across the business, including the customer promise “Prepare to prevail”.

The company said: “This reflects the company’s ethos that mission success doesn’t happen by chance. It comes from rigorous preparation from top instructors, aircrew and engineers combined with world leading technology.”

Draken Europe delivers aviation services to government customers around the world. Its services include training; aircraft repair, maintenance and operations (MRO) and engineering; specialised helicopter training; and search and rescue and surveillance services.

The wider Cobham Group – founded in 1935 by aviator Sir Alan Cobham – was sold for £4billion to American private equity firm Advent International in 2019. The company, formerly called Flight Refuelling, was based in Dorset from 1947.

Under its new owners, its different business units became independent, standalone businesses, leading to the sale of the aviation services arm to Draken last September.