Rising military expenditure is reshaping not only the arms market, but the entire industrial supply chain. In the new reality, what matters is not only finished defense systems, but also the technologies that enable critical components to be manufactured faster, more consistently, and closer to the end user. This is precisely where the importance of SECO/WARWICK Group solutions is growing: metal heat treatment, vacuum technologies, aluminum brazing, and vacuum metallurgy.
The global defense sector has entered a phase of long-term growth. According to SIPRI, world military expenditure reached USD 2,718 billion in 2024, representing a real-term increase of 9.4% year on year. This is the largest annual increase since 1988. In Europe, the shift is equally clear. The European Defense Agency reports that defense expenditure by the EU-27 Member States reached EUR 343 billion in 2024, up 19% compared with 2023.
Credit: SECO/WARWICK
These funds are not allocated solely to the purchase of final military equipment. Investments in production capabilities are becoming increasingly important: plant modernization, expansion of technological lines, material processes, certification, quality control, and R&D. In other words, the role of the industry that is not always visible in the finished product is growing, although it determines whether that product can be manufactured in series, repeatedly, and in line with the requirements of the defense sector. In this context, metal heat treatment and vacuum metallurgy are becoming part of the strategic industrial backbone of security. The quality of these processes affects hardness, wear resistance, dimensional stability, microstructure, fatigue resistance, and the durability of components operating in extreme conditions.
“Today, it is increasingly clear that national security begins not only on the training ground, but also in the production plant. Even the most advanced defense system consists of thousands of elements that must be manufactured with the highest repeatability and process control. SECO/WARWICK Group does not manufacture weapons; it delivers technologies that enable industry to produce components with the required quality, durability and reliability,” says Sławomir Woźniak, CEO of SECO/WARWICK Group.
Technologies that are not visible in the final product
SECO/WARWICK solutions support the production of components used in aerospace, special-purpose vehicles, propulsion systems, cooling systems, turbines, gear systems, ammunition components, missile parts and space technologies. Their common denominator is the need for a stable process and full control of parameters.
In practice, this means specific implementations for specific industrial challenges. For TATA Advanced Systems, SECO/WARWICK delivered a VertiQuench line for solution heat treatment of large aluminum sheets used in the production of aircraft skins and structural components.
For a European NATO supplier, a customized Vector furnace for sintering ammunition cores was developed, removing a bottleneck in one of the key stages of production. A naval shipbuilder uses Vector technology to anneal 3D-printed parts made from metal powders, increasing its independence in the production of critical spare parts.
Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, in turn, implemented a vacuum furnace for casting titanium and nickel-based superalloys, while EcoTitanium, part of Aubert & Duval, increased its capabilities in titanium alloy recycling and refining using PAM and VAR technologies.
These examples show that SECO/WARWICK technologies support different levels of the value chain: from component heat treatment, through the production of aerospace and ammunition parts, to the metallurgy of critical materials.
“The defense industry is a sector in which technology alone is not enough. Partners expect discretion, information security, supply stability, local support, service, and the ability to operate in a regulated environment. In many projects, local content requirements, meaning the involvement of local production or competencies in the supply chain, are also important. In the coming years, the competitiveness of suppliers to the defense sector will increasingly depend on the ability to combine technology, service, local presence, documentation and speed of implementation. In this setup, metal heat treatment and vacuum metallurgy will be among the foundations of industrial readiness,” adds S. Woźniak.
As defense expenditure grows, so does the importance of dual-use technologies, solutions used both in civilian industry and in sectors related to security. Vacuum furnaces, CAB lines and vacuum metallurgy equipment are not military technologies in themselves, but they provide the industrial base for the production of components without which modern defense systems could not be built.
For SECO/WARWICK, this is an area where slogans are not what counts, but industrial practice: technology, process, service, and the ability to support customers in increasing real production capabilities.