Last year's DVD encouraged several substantial British companies to enter the military supply arena. Richard Harrington talked to one of them about its approach to this demanding market and uncovered some fascinating developments that will make high-strength composite materials affordable in a wide range of applications.

New materials, forming processes and fastening technologies are being developed by a British multinational company to address many of the weight reduction, strength and serviceability issues faced by suppliers of military vehicles. Currently a supplier of braking systems, metal components and fastening systems for a wide range of applications from aircraft to nuclear submarines, Caparo is stepping up its ability to use its considerable depth and breadth of expertise to solve the evolving challenges faced by its military customers.

“Since the end of the cold war and of the conflict in Northern Ireland, the type and location of military operations has become less predictable and invariably more remote,” explains Caparo Vehicle Products chief executive officer Richard Butler. “Issues such as fuel consumption, logistics and operational flexibility are now much more important, all of which require lighter vehicles that cost less to transport and operate and offer more flexible roles and payloads. These are areas where Caparo has strengths that will help our military customers deliver exceptionally effective vehicles and systems.”

Breadth of expertise
When Lord Paul launched his engineering business, Caparo, from a small factory in Huntingdon back in 1968, few would have expected that 40 years later it would have grown into a multinational corporation employing almost 6,000 people. Today, more than 40 companies make up the Caparo Group, with more than 60 sites in the UK alone and many more in India, Spain, North America and Poland.

Specialist areas include vehicle structures, braking systems, clutch actuation systems, tubes and tubular systems, fasteners, castings, pressings and assemblies in steel and aluminium. All benefit from Caparo's specialist expertise in reducing lead times by the use of innovative design and manufacturing techniques and the firm's increasing focus on weight reduction, one of the key strategies for improvements in mobility, fuel economy and emissions performance.

For too long, durability and protection have been excuses for excess weight
Applications already include ultra-high precision tubular assemblies for the nuclear energy industry, fasteners for British warships and submarines and braking systems for off-road and multi-terrain vehicle. The company is also increasingly involved in the optimisation of COTS