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K-TIG (ASX:KTG) to develop sovereign capability for Australian defence industry

Industrial
ASX:KTG      MCAP $10.63M
17 June 2020 15:33 (AEST)

High-speed welding technology developer, K-TIG (KTG) has teamed up with Axiom Precision Manufacturing and Bisalloy Steel to develop a sovereign capability
for the Australian defence industry.

As stated in the Defence sovereign fact sheet, sovereign capabilities are critical to the Defence and must be developed or supported by Australian industry.

“This means Australia must have access to, or control over the skills, technology, intellectual property, financial resources and infrastructure,” as stated in the document.

Who is Axiom?

Axiom Precision Manufacturing is an Australian manufacturing provider and has significant experience in the defence and aerospace industry. It currently has products with air, land and sea defence projects.

The company manufactures many components for the Australian Collins-class submarines and is the provider for the vertical tail components of the F-35 Strike Fighter plane.

Who is Bisalloy?

Bisalloy Steels is “Australia’s only manufacturer of high-tensile and abrasion-resistant quenched and tempered steel plate”, which is used for armour, structural and wear-resistant steel applications.

The company is known worldwide by major defence departments and is used by international contractors for land and sea projects.

The agreement

Majority of the contract remains in confidentiality and could potentially be released to the market at a later date, however, the trio did reveal a little bit about the agreement.

The companies will work together to develop a sovereign capability for the Australian industry in the efficient and effective welding of specialist steels. The steels are vital to the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and will be used for land, sea and air projects.

The welding will be based around the keyhole TIG processes, which is developed and commercialised by K-TIG.

Acom will be responsible for establishing an Australian sovereign capability to weld for the steel.

While, Bisalloy will be in charge of the supply of the steels to the project, which will be based upon their armour plate technology.

“We are delighted to be expanding into the Defence market and partnering with Axiom Precision Manufacturing and Bisalloy Steels, two established Australian
Department of Defence contractors,” K-TIG Chairman Stuart Carmichael said.

“K-TIG will be responsible for the development of a keyhole TIG welding process for high carbon steels typically used in the defence industry,” he added.

K-TIG is up 12.9 per cent on the market today, selling shares for 17.5 cents each at 2:57 pm AEST.

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