Unison to supply 175 mm capacity tube bender to BAE

The machine will support ongoing projects, including the construction of the Royal Navy's Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers*. Capable of handling tube and pipe diameters up to 175 mm (~7 inches), it will be the second 175 mm diameter all-electric tube bending machine that Unison has manufactured. BAE Systems' bending machine will be built at Unison's factory in Scarborough and will be delivered at the end of the first quarter of 2010 to the BAE Systems facility in Scotstoun, Glasgow. Aircraft carriers require hundreds of kilometres of tubing and piping for on-board services, and this new bending machine will enable BAE Systems to fabricate the shaped tube parts required. The performance and flexibility of the all-electric, servomotor-powered bending technology pioneered by Unison is ideal for the customised shipbuilding production environment, where many component parts are fabricated in very small batches - and often in quantities of just one. * The contract to build the two new Aircraft Carriers for the Royal Navy - HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales - was signed on 3 July 2008. The carriers will be the biggest and most powerful surface warships ever constructed for the UK.