Editing Belfast (section)

=== Shipbuilding, aerospace and defence ===
Of Belfast's Victorian-era industry, little remains. The last working linen factory—Copeland Linens Limited, based in the Shankill area—closed in 2013.<ref>{{Cite news |date=25 January 2013 |title=Copeland Linens, Belfast's last working linen factory closes |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-21192216 |access-date=3 February 2024 |work=BBC News }}</ref> In recent years [[Harland & Wolff]], which at peak production in the Second World War had employed around 35,000 people, has had a workforce of no more than two or three hundred refurbishing oil rigs and fabricating off-shore wind turbines. A £1.6 billion [[Royal Navy]] contract has offered the yard a new lease, returning it to shipbuilding in 2025,<ref name=":3" />{{rp|261–262}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=£100 million boost as naval shipbuilding confirms return to Belfast |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/100-million-boost-as-naval-shipbuilding-confirms-return-to-belfast |access-date=23 January 2024 |website=GOV.UK |archive-date=23 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240123203452/https://www.gov.uk/government/news/100-million-boost-as-naval-shipbuilding-confirms-return-to-belfast |url-status=live }}</ref> a prospect secured by the purchase of insolvent yard by Spain's state-owned shipbuilder, [[Navantia]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=27 January 2025 |title=Harland and Wolff: Spanish firm Navantia completes takeover |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx24593xe8no |access-date=10 February 2025 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB |archive-date=11 February 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250211194759/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx24593xe8no |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1936, Short & Harland Ltd, a joint venture of [[Short Brothers]] and Harland & Wolff, began the manufacture of aircraft in the docks area. In 1989, the British government, which had nationalised the company during the Second World War, sold it to the Canadian aerospace company [[Bombardier Inc.|Bombardier]]. In 2020, it was sold on to the American aerostructure company [[Spirit AeroSystems]].<ref name="spirt-completes">{{cite news |last=McAleer |first=Ryan |date=29 November 2020 |title=Short Brothers' new US owner reports £136m operating loss for third quarter |url=https://www.irishnews.com/business/2020/11/04/news/short-brothers-new-us-owner-reports-136m-operating-loss-for-third-quarter-2118573/ |access-date=29 November 2020 |work=The Irish News |location=Belfast |archive-date=4 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201104080024/https://www.irishnews.com/business/2020/11/04/news/short-brothers-new-us-owner-reports-136m-operating-loss-for-third-quarter-2118573/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Producing aircraft components, it remains the largest manufacturing concern in Northern Ireland.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.nics.gov.uk/irtu/research/engineering-4.html |title=Shorts as a "Centre of Excellence" within Bombardier, 2007 |access-date=25 January 2024 |archive-date=24 September 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060924102225/http://www.nics.gov.uk/irtu/research/engineering-4.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Originating in the [[Short Brothers]]' missile division, since 2001 the [[Thales Group]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Thomson-CSF changes name to Thales |url=https://www.aerospaceonline.com/doc/thomson-csf-changes-name-to-thales-0001 |access-date=3 May 2021 |website=aerospaceonline.com |archive-date=19 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319090040/https://www.aerospaceonline.com/doc/thomson-csf-changes-name-to-thales-0001 |url-status=live }}</ref> (owned by the French defense contractor [[Thales Air Defence]] Limited)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our UK locations |url=http://www.thalesgroup.com/en/countries/europe/united-kingdom/about-thales-uk/our-uk-locations |access-date=3 May 2021 |website=Thales Group |archive-date=5 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505205250/https://www.thalesgroup.com/en/countries/europe/united-kingdom/about-thales-uk/our-uk-locations |url-status=live }}</ref> has been producing [[short range air defence]] and [[Anti-tank guided missile|anti-tank]] [[missile]]s<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 2019 |title=Economic Impact of Thales in Northern Ireland |url=http://www.thalesgroup.com/sites/default/files/database/document/2019-09/Thales_Belfast_Report%20final.pdf |access-date=2 May 2021 |website=thalesgroup.com |archive-date=2 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210502144401/http://www.thalesgroup.com/sites/default/files/database/document/2019-09/Thales_Belfast_Report%20final.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> including the [[NLAW]] shoulder-launched system<ref>{{Cite news |date=21 December 2022 |title=Belfast weapons factory receives contract to produce anti-tank missiles |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/belfast-weapons-factory-receives-contract-to-produce-anti-tank-missiles/42235861.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240213142755/https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/belfast-weapons-factory-receives-contract-to-produce-anti-tank-missiles/42235861.html |archive-date=13 February 2024 |access-date=13 February 2024 |work=BelfastTelegraph.co.uk |issn=0307-1235}}</ref> and, from 2025, lightweight multirole missiles (LMMs),<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-03-02 |title=Belfast: Thales missile factory to supply 5,000 air defence missiles to Ukraine |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c74knzk9x8zo |access-date=2025-03-04 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref> deployed against the [[Russian invasion of Ukraine|Russian invasion]] by [[Ukraine]]..