Chennai, India. 29 May 2023. Carborundum Universal Limited (CUMI), a pioneering organisation in the field of material sciences and part of the 120-year-old Murugappa Group today announced a slew of advanced certifications such as EN9100 and STANAG 4569 that endorse its capabilities, regulatory compliance, and expertise in aerospace and defence manufacturing. CUMI has had a strong presence in the material sciences industry for almost 70 years. With these global certifications to its name, the company is making headway to being a prominent supplier of cutting-edge technologies and solutions in the space of material science for aerospace and defence applications in India, and globally.
Aerospace, aviation, and defence are the world’s most regulated industries and suppliers to these sectors need to meet the highest standards of quality. CUMI received the critical EN9100 (also known as AS9100D) certification, a globally adopted quality management system standard for the Aerospace and Defence industry for its fine powders, composites, and precision machining facilities. CUMI’s composites facility brings cutting-edge composite technology for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) including CFRP tubes, panels, and customised composite structural parts for drones. This certification will enable CUMI to directly supply its products to Aerospace Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) across the globe.
The company’s ceramic armour products qualified trials to meet the stringent STANAG 4569 Level 3 criteria. STANAG4569 is a global military standard for protection of occupants of light armoured vehicles from multiple heavy artillery shots. Trials were held at the Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL) in Chandigarh. CUMI is now the only fully integrated manufacturer of silicon carbide armour products in India that has qualified for this level of protection for vehicles. With this certification, CUMI is the first company in the country that is positioned to supply ceramic panels that offer STANAG level 3 ballistic protection for armoured vehicles. Light armoured vehicles are among the list of defence items marked for indigenization and come under the import embargo list released by the Ministry of Defence.
CUMI has also recently received the prestigious Process Certificate for Metallization of Alumina Substrates from the Space Applications Centre, ISRO. This certification awarded to the company’s Industrial Ceramics business unit, will help in ramping up its 3-layer metallization process on Alumina substrates for flight use. These substrates are used in various electronic applications in satellites and CUMI is the only manufacturer of this product in the country.
In addition, CUMI’s ceramic products for personal armour solutions have been deployed by esteemed Defence customers. These products have been qualified for NIJ threat levels III, III+, and IV thereby providing protection to a soldier from automatic guns and armour piercing rifles. This enables CUMI to provide a choice of material (either alumina, zirconia toughened alumina, or silicon carbide) to Defence customers to meet any specified threat level for personal protection. CUMI’s lightweight ceramic ballistic solutions engineered with Alumina, Zirconia-Toughened Alumina and Silicon Carbide, are ergonomic and customisable into various sizes and shapes for use in bulletproof vests.
Subbu Venkatachalam, Head of Marketing, Carborundum Universal Limited, said, “Aerospace and defence applications demand the most stringent quality standards with zero tolerance for deviations or errors. At CUMI, we always hold ourselves to the highest standards of accuracy that enable us to deliver the best quality to our customers. As we intensify our focus on the aerospace and defence sector and align ourselves with the goal to build India’s self-reliance in this industry, these certifications are a great way to reiterate our focus on quality and accuracy.”
CUMI has been driving innovations with ceramic powder, ceramic products, and panels for aviation, space and defence applications, ensuring that these materials are tested for the highest standards of reliability and safety, both for man and machine, across terrains. The company also manufactures world-class structural composites for aerospace applications. Wendt India, a Joint Venture between Wendt GmbH and CUMI, specialises in Precision machining of Aerospace components that meet global standards of quality management systems. CUMI is also one of the first companies to produce the ‘wonder material’ graphene for aerospace & defence applications in India.
