Nammo signals major investment boost after growing annual result by 35%

Nammo grew its annual result by 35% in 2016, and now intends to pursue major investments valued at more than NOK 1 billion (USD 117 million) in new technology and equipment across its sites and businesses over the coming five years.

“The stronger our results, the stronger our ability to invest in the future. Our 2016 results will support our efforts to develop new and more capable products for the men and women in uniform who rely on these products to do their jobs, and to do so more efficiently, and at a lower cost. In short, we will be able to invest heavily in the capabilities that define us as a company,” says Nammo's CEO, Mr. Morten Brandtzæg.

Responding to the needs of the Armed Forces

One of the new investments is the completion of a new production line for 20 to 30 mm ammunition, including the 25 mm APEX round Nammo has developed for the F-35. Located at Nammo’s research and production hub at Raufoss in Norway, this new facility will be fully automated and easily reconfigurable, which will allow the same production line to manufacture a wide variety of ammunition types with a minimum of personnel, all with exceptional precision and quality.

Nammo’s new fully automated medium caliber production line will require 80% less manual labor than current systems, allowing personnel to be redirected towards design and development and quality assurance roles (Illustration: Intek).

“While our immediate goal for this investment is to prepare for mass production of APEX, we also want to adapt to the changing requirements of the various armed forces we serve. Increasingly they want a wider variety of ammunition types, but each of them in smaller quantities, which represents a challenge in terms of costs. This investment ensures that we can provide an affordable solution to these requirements, all while improving efficiency and safety for our staff,” says Mr. Brandtzæg.p>

Looking to the future of space propulsion

Space propulsion is another area of significant interest to Nammo over the coming years. Building on its experience with military rocket engines, Nammo is considering additional investments to strengthen its existing in-house technologies, including its advanced hybrid rocket motors.

Testing of Nammo’s hybrid rocket motor design at Raufoss in March 2017. Hybrid rockets can be throttled, stopped and restarted in flight, giving the user significant added flexibility compared to traditional solid rockets.

“While the heavy lifters built by SpaceX, Blue Origin, NASA, and others get a lot of the attention, we see a significant demand for small, safe, and flexible rocket engines to support these larger systems. This is an area where Nammo potentially has a lot to offer, and we intend to look at how we can build on that,” says Mr. Brandtzæg.

Profitable growth

In 2016, Nammo recorded an annual turnover in excess of NOK 4 billion (USD 467 million) for the first time, with its operating profit growing to NOK 384 million (USD 44.8 million) from NOK 284 million (USD 33.15 million) in 2015. Mr. Brandtzæg attributes the company’s strong performance to a combination of factors, including a successful reorganization and long term efficiency measures that have helped steer the company towards profitable growth.

“We have really made a concerted effort aimed at controlling costs and increasing our profitability for several years. I have been impressed by how our staff through small adjustments in production processes has made significant contributions towards our bottom line. In Nammo we believe those doing an important job deserve the right equipment, and what our performance over the past year shows is that we have a strong future ahead of us providing just that,” says Mr. Brandtzæg.