Galvion, a world leader in the design and manufacture of military head protection systems and intelligent power and data management solutions, is pleased to announce that it has established a strategic partnership with the UK-based global Defence composites company, NP Aerospace. The relationship is announced as the first batch of NP produced product is accepted and ready to deliver, and marks NP Aerospace becoming a key helmet production partner. NP Aerospace is manufacturing Galvion’s proprietary helmet designs to stringent production specifications and delivering to Galvion’s local UK and continental European customer base.
This new long-term, mutually exclusive partnership will initially focus on the delivery of Galvion’s Cobra® Plus helmets into the UK MoD’s VIRTUS programme. Since contract award in 2015, Galvion has produced and delivered over 200,000 helmet systems to the UK’s VIRTUS programme. NP Aerospace, already a long-standing and trusted supplier of the UK MoD, brings decades of advanced composite material and armour system manufacturing expertise to the venture, ensuring a continuity of production excellence for Galvion’s customers.
With validations, compliance assurance, tools, and technology transfer complete, NP Aerospace has concluded the Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) phase and will deliver the first production batch, marking the transition to full operating capability of the new production facility. The on-shore UK production collaboration will shorten supply chains, improve responsiveness, and provide a platform for future support and sustainment, enhancing the UK’s VIRTUS programme customer journey. In addition, this move to regionalization fully aligns with the UK customer’s Land Industrial Strategy (LIS) and places Galvion in a strong position to continue to export to and support yet more European and wider regional customers.
James Kempston, CEO at NP Aerospace said: “NP Aerospace has a strong capability in delivering high volume military helmet programmes. We have delivered 625,000 helmets to UK MoD since the mid-1990s, and we are a long-term trusted supplier on multiple UK DE&S equipment programmes. We are honoured to be partnering with Galvion to continue the legacy of excellence with the UK-manufactured VIRTUS Cobra Plus Helmet and look forward to the opportunities that this relationship presents for the future.”
Jonathan Blanshay, Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors at Galvion said: “We are firmly committed to providing best-in-class product and service to our global customer network. The UK’s MoD is an exceedingly high priority for Galvion, and we believe this new alliance represents a win-win for all parties. I’d like to thank all partners involved for working together to benefit our joint customer”. He added: “With everything going on in the world today, regional partnering and collaboration is part of a wider strategic initiative to establish onshore and localized production to enhance delivery, flexibility, responsiveness, and supportability for our customers around the world.”
Galvion designs, develops, and delivers mission critical head, face, and torso protective solutions as well as intelligent power and data management systems for the world’s most demanding military and tactical teams. Founded in 2002 as Revision Military, a foundational belief in calculated investment and capability expansion led to a strategic refocus, resulting in the divestiture of the protective eyewear business, along with the Revision name, in 2019. Rebranded as Galvion, the company’s products and technology continue to evolve beyond purely passive protection, focusing instead on active systems that enhance performance and survivability, with an eye to the ever-changing demands of the modern battlefield. Through advanced design, keen end-user insight and intelligent integration, Galvion engineers uniquely customized solutions that go beyond what was once thought possible. Privately owned with ISO 9001:2015 certified facilities in Vermont, Massachusetts and New Hampshire in the US, Montreal in Canada and Bristol in the UK, Galvion works proactively to solve the problems left unsolved by others.
