Lightron Fiber-Optic Devices, a fiber-optic communications specialist corporations, is moving to localize key parts for the defense industry.
Lightron Fiber-Optic Devices recently created a new Defense Industry Division and will build a mass-production system for military-use fiber-optic communications, it said on Jan. 15.
Fiber-optic communications equipment has grown in importance in the defense industry recently as software-centered advances have progressed in communications and control systems. Lightron Fiber-Optic Devices plans to apply its fiber-optic communications technology to the defense field to reduce reliance on foreign products and help stabilize the domestic supply chain.
Its core strength is "durability." Unlike general commercial products, defense supplies must withstand extreme temperature changes, vibration and shock. To do so, they must meet the U.S. Department of Defense standard "MIL-STD (Military Standard)."
Lightron Fiber-Optic Devices said that as it carried out defense localization projects, it already secured design technology that operates normally even in extreme environments. It added that it has now completed verification of its manufacturing process and mass-production capability.
Its main focus is an integrated "electrical-optical-electrical" conversion solution, a core of the Army's tactical communications system. As modern warfare shifts to network-centric warfare (NCW), which sends and receives large volumes of video and data in real time, demand is surging for fiber-optic components, which offer faster transmission speeds than copper wire and are free from electromagnetic interference.
Leading with high-reliability optical transceivers, Lightron Fiber-Optic Devices is in talks with major domestic defense system companies to supply customized products. It plans to gradually increase the share of defense sales through this.
Chief Executive Kim Min-ho of Lightron Fiber-Optic Devices said, "Our entry into defense is not a vague plan but a confidence made possible by having already passed rigorous technical verification through national projects," adding, "We will combine our mass-production know-how proven in the civilian market with specialized military technology to establish ourselves as a key partner responsible for the neural network of K-defense."