Mersen Solutions for the Defense Industry

Extreme operational constraints

Defense systems are subject to some of the harshest operating conditions in industry. They must operate reliably in environments characterized by extreme temperatures, severe thermal and mechanical shock, as well as hostile conditions such as the vacuum of space, immersion, radiation, or corrosion.

High industrial and regulatory requirements

The Defense industry relies on critical supply chains: component traceability, secured sourcing, and industrial continuity.

Industry players must comply with strict regulatory frameworks, both in terms of quality and compliance with Defense and Aeronautics standards.

In this context, Mersen’s electrical protection solutions and its end-to-end industrial mastery of advanced materials play an essential role.

Mersen holds the certifications required to operate in most countries on Defense and Aeronautics programs.

Defense and Aeronautics regulatory compliance

Nine Mersen plants worldwide are certified AS / EN 9100, demonstrating the Group’s ability to meet the quality, traceability, and reliability requirements of the most demanding aeronautics programs.

In addition, some sites in the United States are ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations) certified.

Our certifications for the United States

• ITAR / US Manufacturing Registered
• DFARS Compliant
• NIST / CMMC Compliant
• JCP Registered

Other certifications

•    Active SAM Registrations
•    ISO 9001 / AS9100D
•    AS / EN 9100

Mersen, a member of GIFAS

Mersen is a member of GIFAS (Groupement des Industries Françaises Aéronautiques et Spatiales), illustrating its integration within the Defense and Aeronautics industrial ecosystem and its recognition as a leading industrial player.

Mersen delivers tangible benefits for programs led by manufacturers in the sector.

Operational reliability in critical environments

Mastery of advanced materials, combined with recognized expertise in energy management and distribution, helps secure the performance of critical systems throughout their life cycle.

Aeronautics parts and graphite mechanical components provide optimal resistance to extreme temperature, vibration, pressure, and mechanical shock.

The laminated bus bars, power capacitors, and cold plates developed by Mersen contribute to the reliability of onboard electronics by ensuring controlled power distribution and effective thermal management.

Industrial sovereignty and supply security

Thanks to its industrial capabilities and international footprint, Mersen helps secure the supply chains of strategic programs, from design through manufacturing, machining or assembly, quality control, and traceability.

The Group supports manufacturers on long-term programs, sometimes over several decades, ensuring repeatable performance and the long-term availability of materials, products, and solutions.

Mersen is a reference player in advanced materials, offering a wide range of high-performance materials, including isostatic graphite, extruded graphite, pyrocarbon, carbon–carbon composites, and carbon insulation materials.

These materials are designed to meet the thermal, mechanical, and environmental requirements of the most critical Defense and Aeronautics applications, and can be subject to specific treatments (impregnation, coatings, purification) to optimize performance and durability.

Extreme heat resistance

Graphite is the most refractory material known, with a sublimation temperature of 3,825°C at one atmosphere.
It retains its mechanical properties under extreme thermal conditions and withstands thermal shock effectively, making it a material of choice for defense applications exposed to very high temperatures, such as thermal shields.

Mersen develops and manufactures graphite grades specifically suited to extreme thermal environments, capable of operating across a wide temperature range, from cryogenic conditions to very high temperatures.

These solutions are used in applications requiring exceptional thermal and mechanical stability, such as propulsion systems with graphite nozzles, equipment exposed to severe thermal loads, or critical components in next-generation engines.

Lightweight and mechanical strength

Thanks to its excellent strength-to-weight ratio, graphite helps reduce system weight while maintaining high performance. This characteristic is essential for improving energy efficiency and operational capabilities of equipment used in the defense and aerospace industry.

Thermal and electrical conductivity

Graphite’s thermal and electrical conductivity enables effective heat and energy management in advanced electronic systems, including radar, guidance, and communication equipment used in the Defense industry.

Self-lubrication and wear resistance

Graphite has natural self-lubricating properties, enabling reliable operation without liquid lubricant. It is therefore particularly suited to extreme environments, where conventional lubrication solutions are not feasible. Mersen’s mechanical graphite, in extreme aerospace applications, can improve efficiency, reduce costs, and facilitate maintenance.

Corrosion resistance

Graphite offers excellent resistance to chemical corrosion and oxidation in many aggressive environments. This property is essential for defense applications exposed to humidity, saline atmospheres, chemicals, or marine environments, particularly in naval and submarine systems.

Developed by Mersen, silicon carbide SiC Boostec® is a high-performance material particularly suited to Defense and space applications requiring exceptional thermomechanical stability. It meets the requirements of critical systems operating in constrained environments, where precision, reliability, and dimensional stability are decisive.

A benchmark solution for space systems

Boostec® technology makes it possible to design assemblies made entirely of SiC, integrating optical components, structures, and functional supports, ensuring optimal material consistency and excellent stability across wide temperature ranges. Optical surfaces can be coated with CVD SiC to eliminate any residual porosity and achieve surface finishes compatible with very high-precision applications.

Space instrumentation

With more than 20 years of know-how in space instrumentation, Mersen Boostec designs and manufactures large monolithic parts as well as assemblies joined by brazing, meeting the stiffness, mass, and stability constraints required by Defense and institutional programs. The Group also masters structural bonding and bolting techniques, enabling the assembly of SiC parts to each other or to other materials depending on system architectures.

• ELT: combining high specific stiffness and high thermal stability, SiC Boostec^® was selected to manufacture two particularly large and demanding parts for ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope (ELT).
• Herschel: a space telescope launched in 2009 whose 3.5 m diameter primary mirror, the largest space mirror, consists of 12 sintered silicon carbide segments assembled by brazing.
• Gaia: an ESA (European Space Agency) global astrometry mission, launched in December 2013.
• Sentinel-2: an ESA mission comprising 4 high-resolution multispectral optical imaging satellites.

Thermal and energy management

Mersen designs energy management and distribution solutions for military and aerospace equipment, where performance, reliability, and thermal control are decisive.

The laminated bus bars and cold plates designed by Mersen are commonly used in a wide range of defense applications, including missile guidance equipment, phased-array radar systems, sonar and radar tracking stations, airborne equipment, tanks, submarines, and numerous space programs.

They help optimize power distribution, reduce footprint, and ensure effective thermal control of onboard power electronics systems.
These solutions are designed to operate in extreme environments, from high altitudes for military aircraft to the vacuum of space, while meeting the stringent weight, reliability, and service-life constraints imposed by the Defense Industry.

Mersen, partner to the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency (DLA)

Mersen was selected by the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) as a supplier of isostatic synthetic graphite, a strategic material listed among the DLA’s Materials of Interest.
This selection confirms Mersen’s industrial capabilities, its mastery of advanced materials, and its ability to deliver solutions meeting the strictest Defense-sector requirements, particularly in terms of quality, traceability, and supply security.

Proven expertise in critical environments

• Over 60 years of expertise in designing and manufacturing bus bars
• Over 30 years of experience with cold plates and heat sinks
• Strong capabilities in complex power electronics
• One of the long-standing global leaders in manufacturing isostatic graphite

Mersen solutions are deployed in military, naval, aeronautics, and space applications, where performance and reliability are critical.

A long-term, industrial, and pragmatic approach

The Group can support complex and sensitive programs thanks to its international industrial footprint, its quality-driven culture, and its ongoing commitment to compliance and security.

Mersen is a long-term industrial partner, working alongside its customers to ensure reliability, compliance, continuity, and risk control throughout the entire life cycle of systems.