Background of the Collaboration

In response to the pain points of deep-sea equipment connectors—reliance on imports, insufficient reliability, and high maintenance costs—a certain military unit has put forward a demand for domestic substitution, requiring compliance with operational performance criteria of 1,000 meters water depth, five years of maintenance-free operation, and zero failures. Against this backdrop, Hesi Technology, leveraging its technological expertise in precision manufacturing and materials R&D, has entered into a strategic partnership with the First Academy of China Aerospace, drawing on its profound capabilities in military equipment R&D and reliability management, to jointly advance the development of this domestically produced waterproof connector.

Collaboration Project

This collaboration takes “breaking through technological bottlenecks, meeting real-world operational needs, and achieving domestic substitution” as its core objectives. Hesi Technology and the First Academy of China Aerospace have established a joint R&D team, fully integrating the strengths and resources of both parties, focusing on the project’s key challenges, and systematically advancing the independent development, experimental verification, and technology transfer of a specific type of hermetic connector.
In response to the project’s four core challenges—adaptability to the extreme deep-sea environment (high pressure, high salt spray, and low temperatures), stringent requirements for product reliability far exceeding civilian standards, technological bottlenecks hindering independent breakthroughs in core technologies, and the urgent task of completing R&D, testing, and finalization within a short timeframe—the joint R&D team formulated an implementation strategy of “technology innovation as the driving force, quality control as the safeguard, and military–civilian collaboration as the catalyst.” During the R&D process, the two parties collaborated with clear divisions of labor and complementary strengths: the First Academy of China Aerospace leveraged its experience in developing military equipment, taking responsibility for aligning with real-world operational needs, establishing military-grade R&D standards, and conducting system-level testing and validation to ensure the products are fully aligned with combat scenarios; Hesi Technology focused on materials and structural innovation, dedicating its core R&D resources to overcoming key technical hurdles such as corrosion-resistant materials and sealing structures.

Collaborative Outcomes

Through the relentless efforts of the joint research and development team, this type of watertight connector has successfully completed all R&D and testing phases. Its performance metrics not only meet but exceed the operational requirements set by the military, thereby fully achieving the intended collaborative objectives and yielding significant technological breakthroughs, practical combat value, and strategic significance.
In terms of technical performance, the product’s key metrics have been significantly improved: its corrosion‑resistance lifespan is 50% longer than that of comparable imported products, enabling long‑term, stable operation under the high‑pressure, high‑salt‑fog conditions found at depths of 1,000 meters—thus effectively addressing the common issues of corrosion and premature failure in imported counterparts. Moreover, the product’s reliability has been substantially enhanced, rigorously meeting the operational requirement of five years of maintenance‑free service and zero failures over its entire lifecycle. Its Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) far exceeds the standards stipulated by national military specifications, thereby reducing equipment maintenance costs and improving the readiness and operational availability of the system.
In practical applications, this type of watertight connector has successfully passed all military‑grade tests and has been deployed in large quantities on deep‑sea equipment used by a certain unit. Following extended field‑deployment trials, it has demonstrated stable operation and reliable performance, thereby completely breaking the technological and market monopolies held by foreign counterparts and achieving domestic substitution of its core components.
From a strategic perspective, this collaboration has not only facilitated an independent breakthrough in China’s core technologies for watertight connectors, filling a critical technological gap in domestically produced high‑end deep‑sea watertight connectors, but has also enhanced the level of self‑reliance and controllability of China’s deep‑sea equipment, providing essential technical support for upgrading the nation’s deep‑sea systems and strengthening its national defense capabilities. At the same time, through this partnership, both parties have deepened the model of integrated military–civilian development, accumulated valuable experience in joint R&D and technology transfer for defense‑related equipment, and laid a solid foundation for launching broader and more in‑depth collaborations on defense‑related projects in the future.