History
VT Group has its roots in mid-nineteenth century England. When John Thornycroft launched his first boat on the river Thames at Chiswick in 1862, he was applying the same principles of engineering and complex problem solving that we apply to this day. Performance was just as much a priority for him too: his first craft, Nautilus, was the first steam-powered launch to keep pace with the crews of the Oxford and Cambridge boat race.
The company has gone from strength to strength ever since. Formerly known as Vosper Thornycroft and best known for its warships, our company was synonymous with British shipbuilding. We have a deep understanding of the words “mission” and “critical,” our vessels have served uniformed crews in war and peacetime for nearly a century and a half.
The Expansion into Support Services
Over the past 15 years, VT Group has seen a period of tremendous growth, moving from being predominantly a shipbuilder, to becoming a leading defense and customer-critical technical services company. Providing services have always been one of our offerings – we provided logistic support to the vessels we built, while our customers’ crews were trained in our training centers. From this background, it was a very small step to providing support on equipment manufactured outside of VT Group.
U.S. Operations
Recognizing the need and efficiencies of supporting holistic allied operations in combat theaters, VT Group sought out U.S. operations that embraced the same passionate, enthusiastic approach to working with customers. In 2002, VT Group acquired Griffin Services, Inc., amplifying in-theater capabilities and extending operations to the domestic United States. This acquisition was followed by Milcom Systems Corporation Inc. in 2007 and AEPCO Inc., in 2008 resulting in a U.S. business of nearly 3/4 of a billion dollars.
Focused on being the best – rather than the largest – provider of customer-critical technical services, the U.S. operations combine the experience and long-standing market commitment of Aepco, Griffin and Milcom with the global reach and extended capabilities of VT Group. Most importantly, the U.S. operations continue to keep the enthusiasm, skin-in-the-game commitment and responsiveness of a small company while drawing upon the global resources of a 150-year leader in complex systems and services.