Customised solutions for the defence industry
Nortech – a central partner to the Spanish Armed Forces
Marine pedestals for machine guns and grenade launchers manufactured by the Finnish supplier Bevenic Oy play a role at the heart of the Spanish defence industry
The Spanish company Nortech specialises in supplying products manufactured by Nordic defence industry companies. Its main clients include Spain’s Ministry of Defence and major Spanish companies operating in the defence industry, including Navantia, a state-owned company, which builds both military and civil vessels.
”We have delivered gun pedestals and ballistic shields designed and manufactured by Bevenic to Navantia for use in vessels being built for the Spanish Navy”
Beltrán Arenillas-Chaves de la Yglesia, Commercial Director at Nortech
Beltrán Arenillas-Chaves de la Yglesia explains that before the final delivery of the pedestals, work has to be carried out at the Navantia dockyard on the vessel’s structures to make them compatible with the pedestal’s mounting mechanism. This requires close collaboration between Navantia’s and Bevenic’s designers.
‘In my experience, the development, testing and modification of defence devices and systems are time-consuming work. It can easily take months, even years. However, Bevenic performed the modifications and testing in record time,’ says Arenillas-Chaves de la Yglesia. He appreciates the company’s ability to listen to the client’s wishes and needs and to respond to them rapidly.
Systems supplied to defence forces are never standard solutions; instead they must always be customised separately for each application and location. ‘Standard solutions do not work with systems manufactured for the military. The client wants the supplier to adapt its products so that they are compatible with the client’s existing systems,’ explains Arenillas-Chaves de la Yglesia.
New collaboration opportunities
Successful collaboration is creating new collaboration opportunities for Bevenic Combinent. Beltrán Arenillas-Chaves de la Yglesia explains that Navantia is keen to continue the collaboration and is planning to introduce Bevenic’s solutions to its larger vessels, such the Spanish Navy’s new F-110 frigate.
‘In the future, marine pedestals supplied to us by Bevenic may well be retrofitted to older vessels used by the Spanish Navy, which is upgrading its fleet to meet modern-day requirements,’ explains Arenillas-Chaves de la Yglesia. According to him, Bevenic’s products meet the standards and requirements set by clients, which means that they will continue to be in high demand.