Marmon Defense’s strategic rebrand positions the company as America’s most comprehensive military cable supplier
In 2025, a change in name signaled more than just a brand overhaul. Formerly known as Marmon Aerospace & Defense, the company became Marmon Defense (Marmon) last year, crystallizing its identity as a focused provider of high-performance wire and cable solutions for defense and space applications. Originally formed in the mid-1990s following the union of Rockbestos Company and Surprenant Cable Corporation, the two businesses merged in 1996 to create RSCC Wire & Cable within the Marmon Group, a Berkshire Hathaway company. President Charles Clement further explains the origins of Marmon and how this evolution reflects decades of growth. “As the parent group expanded, the business was renamed Marmon Defense to clearly separate the day-to-day operating company from the larger Marmon A&D Group, a change which reduced confusion for both customers and employees,” he begins.
The timing of the rebrand aligned with the transformative acquisition of Marine Tech W&C – a key objective in Marmon’s five-year growth strategy. “Marine Tech W&C brought deep experience in naval shipboard wire and cable, along with strong qualifications and a proven track record supporting Navy programs,” Charles elaborates. “The acquisition added circuit integrity cables to our offerings, which are critical for fire-resistant and safety-critical shipboard systems. As a result, our MIL-spec cable qualified product lists (QPLs) percentage climbed to over 90 percent providing Marmon with the largest product portfolio on the market.”
Marmon’s portfolio includes the design and manufacture of high-performance wire and cable for defense and space applications, where reliability matters most. Its products include data, power, communication, RF coaxial, fiber-optic, and hybrid cables used across sea, land, air, and space domains. “Marmon is a qualified supplier for major defense programs, including approved listings for NAVSEA and NAVAIR,” continues Charles. “We produce everything from individual wires to complex, multi-conductor cables, helping customers reduce the number of suppliers they need while still meeting tough technical requirements.”
Setting the company apart from competitors is Marmon’s custom engineering capability, which it has continued to deliver for over two decades. “Currently, Marmon is working with the US Navy and its Tier 1 contractors on four funded projects for cables that will be used in the next generation ships,” Charles reveals. “We were recently awarded two contracts for two custom cables used on special destroyers for proprietary applications. Our unique technical bench includes engineers, subject matter experts, material scientists, and consultants. They have fully equipped labs at their disposal covering a wide range of testing capabilities. Whether it’s shipboard systems, military aircraft, tactical vehicle, or space applications, our products are built to work in the harshest conditions, where failure is simply not an option.”
Naval power cables
In July 2024, Marmon installed an 80,000-square-foot facility in Hooksett, New Hampshire, in conjunction with the Navy’s motivation to increase naval power cable manufacturing capacity in the US. This partnership was forged to support the increasing demand and speed in military ship building, while the addition of the large power cables to Marmon’s product portfolio increased the company’s shipboard MIL-spec cables QPLs to over 70 percent. Behind this expanded capacity lies a sophisticated operational framework. “Within Marmon Aerospace & Defense Group, we have a continuous improvement team responsible for improving productivity and efficiencies across all functional departments, specifically the manufacturing area,” highlights Charles. “This team includes Lean, automation, digital transformation and AI integration. For the last few years, Marmon Defense has been converting to a digital environment allowing employees from the production floor up to the leadership team to monitor, in real time, different performance metrics which allow them to react accordingly. In the next 18 months, AI development and integration will be carried out to increase our service levels and improve our customers’ experience.”
Marmon’s customer-focused approach is driven by its ‘Voice of the Customer’ methodology, allowing it to concentrate efforts on what is truly important to the customer and deliver package solutions in a timely fashion. Alongside its dedication to customers, the mission-critical nature of the work shapes company culture profoundly. “Our culture is rooted in pride, purpose, and long-term investment in our people,” Charles notes. “Our employees take great pride in supporting the military and mission-critical programs, knowing the work they do directly contributes to national defense, and space initiatives.” Aware that communication is incredibly powerful, the leadership team at Marmon meet regularly with the workforce, providing business updates in an open forum.
“Our people and talents are at the core of Marmon’s DNA,” adds Charles. “Multiple training and skills development programs are offered to all employees that span from the production floor, functional departments, to group and senior leadership roles.”
For 2026, the company’s priorities center on operational coordination, as Charles explains: “We will continue to execute our growth strategy, focusing on coordinating between the multiple production sites to increase our capacity and improve our competitive service levels,” he concludes. “We will be upgrading our commercial technologies and launching a new marketing campaign to promote our large breadth of products servicing the three defense sectors: air, land and sea. Looking further ahead, our five-year goal is to become the supplier of choice for all military cables’ applications offering the best service levels and an unmatched customer experience. We plan to grow by expanding our core wire and cable offerings and strengthening our integrated cable solutions to support more complex and higher-value applications.”
Since its conception in the 1990s, strategic acquisitions, continued infrastructure investments and digital transformation have led to tremendous expansion for Marmon. Today, it builds on an unmatched position in military cable manufacturing with the broadest product portfolio, state-of-the-art facilities and a clear strategic roadmap to become the supplier of choice. Exemplifying how focused capabilities create huge value in defense markets, Marmon’s recent rebrand marks the next chapter for a company positioned to define excellence in mission-critical cable solutions.