Above: Ursviken’s Optima series [in sizes up to 5,000 tons with bending lengths that can exceed 60 feet] press brakes are engineered to bend high-strength, armor-grade materials.
May, 2026- The phrase, “If I tell you, I’d have to kill you” is a common idiom made popular by spy, military and action books and films to indicate classified information.
For Ursviken Technology, part of Vaski Group, the fictional expression holds a grain of truth. Over the last five years, the company has expanded its reach in the defense, aerospace and armored steel fabrication industries with the design/build of heavy-duty, custom, largescale press brakes. Ursviken is headquartered in Sweden, a NATO member since 2024. The adoption of its press brakes by defense contractors has earned the company a place on the Approved/Preferred Vendor List (AVL).
“Building a custom press brake for a military customer is a unique experience,” says David O’Neill, Ursviken’s sales manager for the United States. “For example, we get very little information about the material they will be bending because it’s classified. Typically, the part drives equipment design. In this case, when we get an inquiry from a shipyard or military contractor, they won’t provide us with the part or parts they need to make. Instead, they will give us requirements such as tensile strength and pressure per square inch. We then take that information and determine tooling, tooling capabilities, tonnage and other performance criteria.”
MILESTONES
To meet customers’ special needs, Ursviken draws on its field experience, technology and engineering know-how. Its Optima series press brakes, in sizes up to 5,000 tons with bending lengths that can exceed 60 feet, are engineered to bend high-strength, armor-grade materials.
“Our technology has continued to reach performance milestones due to the creativity of Ursviken’s engineers, who are willing to say yes to build requests that others said no to,” he says. “We recently built a press brake for military applications that had the capacity to withstand 1,100 metric tons [of pressure] per meter. It’s a critical rating because tonnage isn’t just referring to the machine’s limit; it also defines the press brake’s concentration limit or the maximum force the bed and ram can handle per meter before they deform.”
Operators can move heavy plate easily with Ursviken’s overhead crane and moving rail system installed at the back of the press brake, unlike standard hydraulic press brakes, which use this space to store the oil tank.
Ursviken’s patented Flexi-Crown system provides bending accuracy across the entire length of the press brake using high-strength cast iron wedges positioned at 24-inch intervals and independently controlled.
Defense contractors use bump forming (sequential bending) to shape plates for submarine construction and other high-strength military applications. The method can create cylindrical and conical arcs required for hull plating. Ursviken’s patented FlexiCrown system was designed to provide bending accuracy across the entire length of the press brake. Unlike standard machines that use a uniform curve, Flexi-Crown employs high-strength cast iron wedges spaced at 24-inch intervals. Each segment can be independently positioned through a CNC controller that automatically calculates and applies the exact upward force needed to match the top beam’s deflection based on material type, thickness and bending force.
GROWTH
“The demand to bend hard, thick and long steel is rapidly increasing,” O’Neill says. “FlexiCrown compensates for real-world inconsistencies that standard crowning can miss, such as thickness deviations, uneven tool wear and material variations across the length of the part.”
Material handling can also be problematic for heavy fabrication shops with plate weighing 25 to 30 tons each. To help operators overcome that challenge, Ursviken designed and installed an overhead crane on the back of its press brake.
“Typically, the back of the machine is where standard hydraulic press brakes store the oil tank,” he says. “We reverse engineered the design to put those ancillary components on the outside of the press brake to incorporate a moving rail system. When a piece of plate is loaded into the press brake with the crane and bent, it is then picked up, put on the rail and moved to the next process. Because of these types of innovations, we are on the U.S. Navy’s preferred supplier list for all of their shipbuilding.”
Flexi-Crown’s CNC control automatically calculates and applies the exact upward force needed to match the top beam’s deflection based on material type, thickness and bending force.
PASSING MUSTER
The machine builder’s integrated sheet flipper and chain conveyor system automatically turns heavy, large metal plates over during the bending process. The tool helps to streamline the processing of high-tensile materials and is especially suited to heavy-tonnage bump bending.
“When you are building a rocket or a submarine, the parts have to fit perfectly,” O’Neill says. “This industry can’t afford to scrap a part and remake it. The Optima’s technology features work together to give customers the precision they need for these types of jobs.”
In 2025, Ursviken worked with the Navy to ensure its press brakes conformed to Navy color codes, each of which carry their own unique meaning. In addition to safety certifications, each machine must pass U.S. government inspections down to the hydraulics and motors. Press brakes are assembled and installed on site. Like the equipment, the technicians also have to pass muster with background checks.
O’Neill expects business in the defense and military markets to grow over the next 12 months.
“We get repeat customers because our machines have been designed and built with simplicity in mind,” O’Neill says. “But we are also receiving two to three new inquiries a month. With the reinvestment in our military forces, requests for our press brakes continue to ramp up. With labor shortages, the skills gap and a business environment that can be volatile, we are committed to making it easy to run very large machines.”
Ursviken Technology, 847/214-8700, ursviken.com.
