Huneed, MBDA sign 3D manufacturing technology development contract

Huneed Technologies' headquarters in Incheon / Courtesy of Huneed Technologies

By Jung Da-min

Huneed Technologies, a domestic defense firm headquartered in Incheon, has signed a five-year project with MBDA, a European developer and manufacturer of missile systems, to jointly develop 3D-printed metal parts for missile systems and introduce them on the global market.

The company said Wednesday that it will carry out the Additive Manufacturing Technology Development Plan (AMTDP) project with MBDA, manufacturing different shaped titanium-based parts for testing and collecting data; deciding on missile parts that can be manufactured using their 3D-printing technologies; and producing prototypes.

Huneed officials said the project is in line with the company's “Vision 2025” initiative to expand its global aerospace and defense businesses through technology innovation, adding the project will allow the company to advance into new businesses.

“Vision 2025 is aimed at going beyond manufacturing in aerospace sector and developing our capability for design, program testing, electronics system development and maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) in avionics to the global level,” Huneed Chairman Eugene Kim said in a press release. “We believe the partnership with MBDA will open a new chance for business to not only domestic but also global markets.”

MBDA CEO Eric Beranger said: “We're pleased to be partnering with Huneed to bring their center of excellence in additive manufacturing (AM) techniques into our research and development program. MBDA considers AM a key technology for future systems. This new technology development plan is both part of MBDA's open innovation policy and symbolic of the importance of the Republic of Korea to MBDA.”

Earlier in March 2019, Huneed Technologies opened its Additive Manufacturing Technology Center for 3D manufacturing in partnership with German company Electro Optical Systems (EOS). As the first AM center of its kind in Korea with metal 3D process certifications from Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) and the Korean government, the center focuses on researching and developing cutting-edge 3D manufacturing technology for the aerospace and defense industry.