Chemring Confirms Decision to Exit Alloy Surfaces Business

Chemring Group (Romsey, UK) will divest its US-based Alloy Surfaces Company Inc. business (Aston, Pa.) amid falling demand for special material pyrophoric expendable airborne decoys.

Announcing the move in a trading update on November 10, Chemring said that it had been “unable to secure sufficient orders to viably sustain continuous manufacturing operations.”

Acquired by Chemring in 1993, and latterly operating as part of Chemring Countermeasures USA, Alloy Surfaces specializes in the design and manufacture of so-called special material decoys. This class of countermeasure uses pyrophoric metal that reacts with oxygen to emit an intense infrared (IR) signature that is not visible to the human eye. The company’s products include the MJU-51A/B, M211, XM219, MJU-66/B, and L5A2 BOL IR decoys.

Demand for special material decoys peaked during the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, reflecting demand from the US services to provide both fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft with improved self-protection capability against IR-guided threats. However, demand has tailed off significantly in the last decade. The last contract

Alloy Surfaces began laying off its remaining staff at the end of August this year. The Aston facility is expected to shutter by the end of 2025.

Chemring said it was evaluating options for the sale of the business or assets. The company added that the Alloy Surfaces business will be presented as a discontinued operation in its FY25 report and accounts. – R. Scott