Professional new premises for world-class production

Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace opened the doors to its wonderful new production facilities for composite materials on Wednesday, 25 April. The premises house the world-class production facilities resulting from a MNOK 60 investment in buildings and equipment.

The investment in new facilities was precipitated by the MNOK 180 contract for the new Eurofighter signed about a year ago. The company has about 10 years of experience with composite technology.

The new premises make it possible for Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace to make composite parts for its own export products, e.g. Penguin missiles and the new NSM anti-ship missiles. The company will also be in a position to deliver cockpit floors for NATO's new NH-90 helicopters as well as to subcontract for composite parts destined for the international aircraft industry, including both civilian and military markets. KDA will build further on its successful delivery of structures for the Earth observation satellite Envisat and other aerospace-related production.

The new 4200 m2 building bears witness to the modern, sophisticated operations conducted by Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace . The new additions include a large autoclave, laser projection equipment, a cutting machine for prepreg and a 5-axis CNC machine. The products will be carbon/epoxy structures for making heavy-duty parts for the areas mentioned above. The manufacture of these products calls for extensive hand-crafting, requiring highly skilled professionals. The parts are subjected to extensive process control procedures and non-destructive testing, NDT (ultrasound, X-rays). The result is light, exceptionally strong and rigid components.

"These are world-class production facilities!" remarked Eurofighter CEO Ross Bradly in his speech at the opening ceremony on Wednesday. Further, he expressed the pride he takes in having Kongsberg Gruppen as a partner. He was impressed by the versatility, respect and confidence inspired by Kongsberg Gruppen.

Thus far, Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace has recruited 30 new employees to the engineering shop, where fascinating new tasks await. Further staff expansion is expected.