Over 3 Million Users of Group Products
MKU, headquartered in India, used MILIPOL as the stage for presenting its new brand and showcasing new solutions in its portfolio. MKU has worked for 230 military and governmental bodies in 100 countries, with at least three million soldiers currently using the company’s solutions. It has three lines of business: individual soldier optronics; personal protection equipment (helmets, body armour and ballistic plates); and ballistic protection for air, sea, and land platforms. During Milipol, Managing Director Neeraj Gupta personally explained the range of products and solutions to MON, providing an insight into the company’s strategy and ambition.
In the soldier optronics segment, MKU’s Netro Soldier Optronics showcased for the first time the NM 3100 ELFIE ultra-lightweight (270g) third-generation night vision monocular, developed through a three-year cooperation programme with Thales. The alliance envisages manufacturing of optronics equipment, including weapon sights, night vision goggles (NVG), hand-held thermal imagers and thermal infrared sensor engine for soldier systems, and other image intensification and thermal imaging systems for soldiers and platforms. The strategic collaboration between the two companies is focused on enhancing the night fighting capabilities of the Indian Army. The company’s portfolio includes several models of monoculars (NM-3000, NM-3200, NB-3300), NVG (NB-3100), and weapon sights (NW-3000, TW-4000, TW-4100).
The Kavro Soldier Protection division displayed the ACH 126 T high-fragmentation helmet, the helmet-mounted Multiple Accessory Connector System (MACS), the Kavro Integrated System of body armour, bag pack, ILDS and quick release, and the innovative TAC-I and IIA+ Female Body Armour. MKU emphasises that these products are smart personal protection solutions, providing multi-threat protection, using patented technologies and systems developed with years of R&D investment. For example, proprietary Macromatrix technology applied to body armours offers much higher protection than the previous Boltfree technology against the high velocity fragments to which soldiers are exposed from IED blasts and mortar shelling.
Lastly, in the platform protection sector, the Kavro Platform Protection division proposes lightweight armouring platform solutions for land, air, and naval platforms. The division is in competition to provide French NH-90s with enhanced ballistic protection – shields, plates and inserts. To respond to the most demanding requirements, the company has as many as 1,000 possible material combinations for composite armour in its catalogue and can work on new ones should clients require alternative shapes, weight or resistance.
In all three sectors, MKU proudly states that innovation in materials and design are at the core of its success over time, and that its future relies heavily on the upward spiral of investment in R&D. During the celebration event dedicated to the new brand at Milipol, Mr Gupta disclosed plans for stepping into multiple technologies in optronics for pilots, vehicles, optronic thermal imaging, multisensory fusion technology, and ballistic protection from rifles. During the exhibition, MKU amply communicated its desire and will to be at the forefront of defence innovation at the global level.
Marco Giulio Barone in Paris
