July 11, 2018

WELCRON, a leading manufacturer of household and industrial textiles, announced on July 11 that it has acquired Smart Composite, a company specializing in the manufacturing and sales of defense products and advanced composite materials, as part of its strategy to strengthen and expand its defense business.

Founded in 2009 and based in Gimhae, South Korea, Smart Composite specializes in ballistic protection products and defense materials, with advanced manufacturing technologies for lightweight, high-strength composites.

In 2016, Smart Composite supplied ballistic protection materials for the production of armored SUVs delivered to the Peruvian National Police. The company also contributed to WELCRON's successful supply of ballistic and stab-resistant vests for counterterrorism operations to the Korean National Police Agency, incorporating ballistic plates manufactured by Smart Composite.

More recently, Smart Composite has participated in the development of mine-protected armored vehicles by a Korean company and has been exporting military-grade ballistic plates to Malaysia.

Through this acquisition, WELCRON aims to further strengthen its core business in personal ballistic protection while expanding into vehicle and armored vehicle protection, as well as naval ballistic protection solutions, leveraging advanced high-strength composite materials.

WELCRON first entered the defense market in 2011 with the introduction of its next-generation ballistic vest and has since expanded its ballistic protection business through continuous research and development.

In 2014, WELCRON became the first company in South Korea to develop a stab-resistant flotation vest, supplying the products to the Korea Coast Guard over a three-year period through 2016.

In 2016, WELCRON also secured a contract with the Korean National Police Agency to supply lightweight ballistic and stab-resistant vests for counterterrorism operations and general police use. The contract was awarded through a technical proposal-based competitive negotiation process, in which WELCRON's products received the highest evaluation. The company has continued supplying these products to the Korean National Police Agency annually through 2018.

A WELCRON representative stated, "By integrating Smart Composite's advanced manufacturing technologies for lightweight, high-strength ballistic composites, we will be able to further enhance the functionality and performance of our personal protection products, including ballistic and stab-resistant vests, ballistic plates, and ballistic helmets."

The representative added, "In addition to expanding our vehicle and naval ballistic protection businesses, we plan to pursue research and development opportunities in the automotive and aerospace industries by applying advanced high-strength composite materials."

[Media Coverage]

View Original Korean Article 

➡ Originally published in Korean by The Seoul Economic Daily on July 11, 2018