Is friction welding the missing link in UK defence manufacturing?

Added: 2026-06-03

[00:00:00]We're also keen to partner with the industry to collaboratively work together so that we can impart our technical knowledge into the production lines up and down the UK to help the UK expedite its defense manufacturing [music] challenges.

[00:00:16]Once again, defense is at the center of attention for the UK government owing to ongoing geopolitical situations.

[00:00:24]UK government plans to invest significant amounts of money into UK defense over the coming decades to help us address this challenge. The government by the defense industrial strategy has advised that the defense industry can also be used as a driver for economic prosperity in the UK through the creation of new jobs, technology innovation, and resilient capabilities. KUKA Systems UK have a heritage of 50 years here in the UK, and we are a trusted and resilient supply chain partner.

[00:00:53]And we are hoping to showcase our friction welding capabilities to the defense industry to help them to optimize their productions and address their defense challenges. Friction welding is a fantastic process for joining dissimilar material combinations and materials that are typically challenging to join via traditional [music] methods. By considering friction welding innovation, defense organizations can produce complex components that they couldn't before to fulfill the demands of their complex programs. KUKA Systems can offer subcontracting processes to the defense industry from making a range of ship components, aerospace components through our rotary linear and stir welding processes. There are many reasons why the defense industry should embrace friction welding over traditional methods.

[00:01:42]For example, we have a highly repeatable welding process. We don't melt the material, so we have improved mechanical properties and less defect rates.

[00:01:51]Through processes like friction stir welding, we can weld several meters per minute.

[00:01:56]And in general, the energy usage for these manufacturing processes are far lower than traditional arc-based processes.

[00:02:05]We've applied our skill sets to diverse range of industry sectors from oil and gas, automotive, aerospace, renewable energy.

[00:02:15]And we're keen to take that understanding and our skill sets and support the defense industry with a wide range of challenges they have. And we're very confident we can [music] do that.

[00:02:25]For those of you who are interested in advanced welding solutions or looking to tackle complex joining challenges, please contact me via the details shown on this screen. And let's have a conversation to see how I can help you.