Honeycomb composite materials strengthen structures for satellites and aerospace systems

Applied Aerospace & Defense (Applied), a premier manufacturer of mission critical systems for space and defense, announced that it has acquired California based Ultracor, a supplier of specialized honeycomb core materials used in complex bonded composites.

The acquisition is part of Applied's strategy of selective vertical integration across its supply chain, to ensure it can meet the speed, agility, and production capacity requirements of the rapidly growing space and defense market.

Honeycomb core materials and bonded composites are critical components of engineered systems used in satellites, spacecraft, aircraft, missiles, and high-performance antennas and radomes.

They provide an underlying structure with an unmatched stiffness-to-weight ratio compared to single-ply materials, and can offer mechanical and thermal stability even in extreme operating environments. Founded in 1995, Ultracor manufactures a range of IP-enabled proprietary honeycomb core composites from materials including carbon, quartz, Kevlar®, fiberglass and Ultracor's own unique matrix called Ultraflex™.

"Ultracor has long been a trusted high-quality supplier of critical honeycomb core materials to the aerospace industry," said co-chief operating officer, Kevin Bidlack. "By bringing Ultracor into the Applied family, we will be able to accelerate and streamline our production processes, which build some of the most complex space and defense systems in the world including next generation tiltrotor aircraft, collaborative combat aircraft and navigation satellites. We are thrilled to have Ultracor as part of the Applied team."

Ultracor is located in close proximity to Applied's largest manufacturing facility in Stockton, California, which includes a ten building 25-acre campus purpose-built for aerospace systems. The Stockton facility is part of a nationwide infrastructure which includes eleven facilities across six states and over 1.5 million square feet of production capacity that enables Applied to support manufacturing for large-scale programs of record as well as rapid prototype development for emerging platform innovations.