Chemring Group PLC is a UK-based technology company specialising in countermeasures – devices used to impair the effectiveness of enemy attacks — sensors, and energetic systems for the defence, security, and aerospace markets. Chemring’s energetics products include explosive and propellent components for missiles, bombs and torpedoes.
Chemring was founded in 1905 as the British, Foreign & Colonial Automatic Light Controlling Company Ltd to support the conversion of the UK’s street lighting from gas to electricity before branching into the lucrative defence market. The Chemring group reported revenues of UK£ 510.4 million in 2024, 44% of which was to its UK businesses. Chemring is based in Romsey, Hampshire, and its UK subsidiaries include Roke (Roke Manor Research Ltd), Chemring Technology Solutions, Chemring Countermeasures UK, and Chemring Energetics UK. Chemring group companies can be found in the US, Norway, and Australia.
Countermeasures
Chemring is a market leader in the production of countermeasures including flares used to protect aircraft against guided missiles. Chemring reported in 2019 that it had over 50% market share for advanced expendable missile countermeasures and that it was the largest supplier of airborne decoy countermeasures to the US and UK militaries, as well as 31 further countries globally.
In 2019, Chemring Australia was reported to have obtained a contract to supply the Australian air force with countermeasures for its fleet of fighter jets. Since 2022, Chemring has been engaged in the UK Ministry of Defence’s Team Pellonia initiative to develop “Next Generation of Air Survivability (NGAS)” countermeasure capacities alongside Leonardo UK and Thales UK.
As of 2025, Chemring subsidiary Roke is leading the delivery of the UK Ministry of Defence Science & Technology Oriented Research & Development in Missile Defence (STORM) programme. The UK£ 251 million six-year project seeks to develop countermeasures against ballistic and hypersonic missiles. That year, Chemring also won a UK£ 26 million contract via Roke to supply Miniature Radar Altimeters (MRA) to a US military agency, and Roke developed a backpack-carriable electronic warfare (EW) system called EM-Vis Decive (Electron Warfare Visualisation Deceive). The device helps troops disrupt signals from enemy communications systems and unmanned aerial vehicles.
Teargas and riot control products
Chemring and its associated companies’ teargas and riot control products have long been identified as having been used to control protests in several countries.
Amnesty International researchers found in 1997 that teargas canisters and plastic bullets manufactured by Chemring Plc subsidiaries Pains-Wessex and Haley & Weller were used by Kenyan security forces against protestors.
In 2011, media revealed that Egyptian police had used 2-chlorobenzylidene malononitrile ‘CS’ teargas canisters produced by Chemring against Tahir Square demonstrators. Chemring stated that it had not directly supplied CS gas to Egypt since 1998. In 2014 and 2019, protestors in Hong Kong were attacked with Chemring teargas grenades, prompting Chemring to announce that it would review its sales policy. CAAT identified that the UK government had granted seven licences for the export of teargas to Hong Kong between the start of 2010 and January 2014 worth UK£ 180,000, as well as an open licence that allowed unlimited quantities to be exported. In 2015, Chemring obtained a licence for the unlimited export of equipment to the US which includes “CS hand grenades”, “teargas/irritant ammunition” and “teargas/riot control agents”.
More recently, teargas canisters from PW Defence, a company which purchased its teargas making arm from Chemring in 2019, have also been identified in photos from protests in Athens in 2020. PW Defence gas canisters manufactured in 2012, when it was owned by Chemring, have also been identified as having been used against protestors in Oman. The UK government has previously licensed exports from Chemring to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Jordan and Pakistan.
In November 2018, Chemring announced that it was exiting the “commoditised energetics business”, which presumably included its teargas and CS gas engagements. In June 2019, the company reported that it had sold Chemring Defence UK, located in Derby, to PWD Group. As of August 2019, “Chemring Group no longer manufactures, sells or distributes any CS gas or related products,” according to a statement to CAAT.
Corruption allegations
In 2018, it was reported that the UK Serious Fraud Office was investigating Chemring Technology Solutions (CTSL) over corruption allegations related to two contracts, one of which was active after CTSL was acquired by Chemring. The SFO closed its investigation in 2022.
