Question: What year was the defence company formed by the merger of two British defense companies and who the current USA Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration used to work for, formed?

Context articles: United States Assistant Secretary of State
Elissa Slotkin
Richard Ashooh
BAE Systems
United States Assistant Secretary of Defense
Christopher A. Padilla
Mira Ricardel
Bradford P. Campbell
Gilbert B. Kaplan
EAS (weapons)

Assistant Secretary of State (A/S) is a title used for many executive positions in the United States Department of State, ranking below the Under Secretaries.
 A set of six Assistant Secretaries reporting to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs manage diplomatic missions within their designated geographic regions, plus one Assistant Secretary dealing with international organizations.
 Assistant Secretaries usually manage individual bureaus of the Department of State.
 When the manager of a bureau or another agency holds a title other than Assistant Secretary, such as "Director," it can be said to be of "Assistant Secretary equivalent rank."
 Assistant Secretaries typically have a set of deputies, referred to as Deputy Assistant Secretaries (DAS).
Elissa Slotkin is the former Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs under the Obama Administration.
 She was the principal advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense and Secretary of Defense on security strategy and policy issues related to the nations and international organizations of Europe (including the North Atlantic Treaty Organization), Russia, the Middle East, Africa, and the Western Hemisphere.
 She also had oversight for security cooperation programs, including foreign military sales in these regions.
 Previously, from September 2012 to January 2015, Elissa served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs.
 From July 2013 to August 2014, she performed the duties of Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy.
Richard Ashooh is an American businessman, politician, and government official who currently serves as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration.
 Prior to assuming his current role, he served as the Director of Economic Partnerships at the University System of New Hampshire.
 Ashooh previously served as the executive director of the Warren Rudman Center at the University of New Hampshire School of Law and was a senior executive in the aerospace industry, working for both Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems.
 During his time in the aerospace industry, Ashooh focused on programs that protect the United States and allied warfighters, particularly in the electronic warfare space.
BAE Systems plc is a British multinational defence, security, and aerospace company.
 Its headquarters are in London in the United Kingdom and it has operations worldwide.
 It is among the world's largest defence companies; it was ranked as the third-largest based on applicable 2015 revenues.
 Its largest operations are in the United Kingdom and United States, where its BAE Systems Inc. subsidiary is one of the six largest suppliers to the US Department of Defense.
 Other major markets include Australia, India and Saudi Arabia.
 The company was formed on 30 November 1999 by the £7.7 billion merger of two British companies: Marconi Electronic Systems (MES) – the defence electronics and naval shipbuilding subsidiary of the General Electric Company plc (GEC) – and British Aerospace (BAe) – an aircraft, munitions and naval systems manufacturer.
Assistant Secretary of Defense is a title used for many high-level executive positions in the Office of the Secretary of Defense within the U.S. Department of Defense.
 The Assistant Secretary of Defense title is junior to Under Secretary of Defense.
 Reorganization Plan No. 6 of 30 June 1953 increased the number of assistant secretaries.
 The list of Assistant Secretaries of Defense includes:
Christopher A. "Chris" Padilla is Vice President for the Government and Regulatory Affairs at the IBM Corporation.
 He is a former Under Secretary for International Trade within the United States Department of Commerce.
 He was nominated to this position on September 4 and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on December 19, 2007.
 From 2002-2008, Christopher Padilla worked within the Bush administration with a focus on international trade and economic issues.
 On September 29, 2006, he was confirmed as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration by the U.S. Senate.
Mira Ricardel is an American government official who currently serves as Under Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration.
 Prior to assuming her current role, she served as Special Assistant to President Donald Trump and Associate Director for Presidential Personnel.
 She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Bradford P. Campbell was the Assistant Secretary for Employee Benefits Security of the United States Department of Labor (DOL), the official in charge of the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA).
 Mr. Campbell was nominated by President George W. Bush as Assistant Secretary on May 3, 2007, and was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on August 3, 2007.
 He held the position until January 20, 2009.
 Prior to his confirmation as Assistant Secretary, Mr. Campbell had served as Acting Assistant Secretary since October 30, 2006 and as EBSA's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy since March 5, 2004.
Gilbert B. Kaplan is an American attorney who is a partner at King & Spalding.
 He is President Donald Trump's nominee to become Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade in the United States Department of Commerce.
 Kaplan is the co-founder of the Manufacturing Policy Initiative at Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs.
 During the administration of Ronald Reagan, Kaplan served as Deputy Assistant Secretary, Acting Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Import Administration, and Director of the Office of Investigations at the Department of Commerce.
 A former steel industry lobbyist, he has won cases against China.
EAS ('Ellinika Amyntika Systimata', or 'Hellenic Defense Systems') is the company formed by the merger in 2004 of the Greek state Defense Companies EBO and Pyrkal.
 When created, it was a major manufacturer with several factories and thousands of employees, with a product range that includes most land weapons in use today, as well as an established exporter to many countries in the world.
 Its future is uncertain though, due to its mounting debts connected to the poor financial condition of its constituents.