AM Weekly · Week 40: Militaries adopted AM for parts repair and sustainment: Titomic at Tinker AFB, Zetamix aboard Charles de Gaulle, and the Republic of Korea Army

Defense procurement gravity is visible in three sustainment programs: Titomic’s $5M U.S. Air Force contract for depot repair at Tinker AFB, Naval Group’s planned Zetamix installation aboard Charles de Gaulle, and the Republic of Korea Army’s effort targeting roughly 900 discontinued parts. Only Titomic has a disclosed contract value, and none of the three reports qualified output, so the evidence establishes buyer intent more clearly than productive capacity. For pure-play hardware OEMs and their investors, these programs suggest that qualification and accepted repair throughput will matter more to capturing defense spending than machine placements alone.

Militaries adopted AM for parts repair and sustainment: Titomic at Tinker AFB, Zetamix aboard Charles de Gaulle, and the Republic of Korea Army

Three government buyers set out AM plans for keeping existing fleets running rather than for new weapons. The US Air Force awarded Titomic $5M to install a TKF 1000 cold spray system at Tinker AFB for depot repair by Q3 2027. Naval Group and France's fleet support service (SSF) plan to install a Zetamix bound-metal filament printer on the Charles de Gaulle carrier. The Republic of Korea Army is targeting roughly 900 discontinued parts and plans wider use of metal printers. Only the Titomic award has a disclosed value. The other two are plans with no budget, and none of the three reports qualified output yet.

Titomic USA has a $5M (AU$6.9M) U.S. Air Force contract to supply, integrate and commission a Next Generation Titomic Kinetic Fusion TKF 1000 cold spray system at Tinker Air Force Base by Q3 2027. The system is for component repair and depot manufacturing. This week's coverage is a recap: the award was announced around September 14–15. Over the prior two months, Titomic also reported an order from EOS Defense Systems USA in August and four U.S. orders worth over A$750,000 across aerospace, defense, space and energy in early September. In May it received a purchase order from Iowa State University for an ISB-11 cold spray system. Titomic has not disclosed when the Tinker system will start producing qualified repairs, or how many.

Separately, Naval Group and France's fleet support service (SSF) plan to install a Zetamix printer, bound metal filament supply and furnace aboard the Charles de Gaulle to make metal parts for onboard maintenance. According to the coverage, Naval Group trialed the technology at its additive manufacturing facility before moving to this at-sea trial. Zetamix is a product line of Nanoe, a French company with 11–50 staff. Nanoe sells both the filaments and its own Zetasinter debinding and sintering furnaces, and it has raised about $1.98M in total. No budget, installation date or part list was given. On a carrier, the furnace step will set throughput as much as the printer does.

The Republic of Korea Army is targeting roughly 900 discontinued parts for 3D printing and plans wider deployment of metal printers for maintenance. The same report says mobile production and lightweight weapon-system parts still need reliability work before they can be fielded. It gives no budget, supplier or schedule.

All three are sustainment programs: repairing or replacing parts for fleets already in service, not building new weapons. Titomic's award is the one with a disclosed contract value. The French and Korean items are stated plans with no published funding. None of the three reports qualified output so far, whether as parts accepted into service or a repair throughput figure.

Metal powder makers expanded capacity: 6K Additive's $27.4M EXIM loan, AVIC Maite's 2,000-ton Xuzhou line, and EML's 3,000-tonne figure

Powder supply moved on several fronts this week. 6K Additive signed a final $27.4M EXIM loan for its Burgettstown expansion, which is linked to US defense supply-chain funding. AVIC Maite opened Xuzhou Phase III, adding 2,000 tons of powder capacity and room to build 300 LPBF printers a year. EML reported 3,000 tonnes of annual capacity. In China, Beijing Houposi reported over 90% fine-powder yield, and WELLE's 700°C T70X titanium powder was added to Jiangsu's first-batch new materials list. None of these sources gives utilization, added tonnage on a common basis, or named qualification approvals.

6K Additive has executed a final $27.4M Export-Import Bank loan agreement for the expansion of its Burgettstown, Pennsylvania metal powder site. Under the facility, eligible expansion spending can be reimbursed. The announcement does not give the added tonnage or a commissioning date. Other sources give different figures for the site's capacity:

Metal Additive Manufacturing magazine's Summer 2026 issue described the expansion programme as taking Burgettstown's spheroidised powder capacity from about 200 to 1,000 tonnes per annum.
In June, the company said a Uniformity Labs atomiser would bring its nickel powder capacity toward 800 metric tons by the end of 2026.

These figures describe different product scopes, so they should not be added together. Earlier disclosures give the demand side. H1 2026 revenue rose 73% to $13.3M, and powder sales rose 77% to $9M. The company attributed the growth to aerospace and defense demand.

AVIC Maite (Avimetal AM Tech) opened Phase III of its Xuzhou site. The phase adds 2,000 tons of metal powder capacity and room to build 300 LPBF printers a year. Powder and printer production are being brought together at the site, but the new lines are still being commissioned, so these are nameplate figures rather than output. The company's Series C in November 2025, led by Xiangtou Fund, was raised to expand powder capacity. Avimetal began as a powder specialist (VIGA/PREP) before it moved into LPBF hardware. Phase III puts both businesses on one campus, which fits the wider pattern of Chinese AM suppliers keeping powder, machines and services close together.

At AEROTEC 2026, Korea's EML presented copper and nickel alloy powders with printed components. It reported 3,000 tonnes of annual capacity and described services from custom alloy development to finished parts. The report does not say whether the 3,000 tonnes covers only AM-grade spherical powder or all of EML's powder output, or how much of it is in use. For scale, internal records put EML's 2025 revenue at about 16.5B KRW. The company received KS Q 9100 aerospace quality certification in March 2026 and signed IPO underwriting with Shinhan Investment Securities this year.

Two Chinese titanium powder disclosures this week concerned process quality and listings, not tonnage:

Beijing Houposi Technology reported over 90% fine-powder yield from a combined HDH and plasma process, with sphericity of at least 95% and oxygen limits that vary by particle size.
WELLE's T70X titanium alloy, rated for 700°C service, joined Jiangsu's first-batch new materials list. WELLE reports batch-production applications but has not named customers or published quantitative qualification data.

Being on a provincial materials list is not the same as qualification by a named customer for a specific part.

Ford, FAW and Samyoung Machinery reported numbers from printed sand molds and automotive AM

Three industrial users put figures on AM in casting and vehicle production. Ford and Michigan foundries validated printed sand molds for Sharrow Engineering propellers, and lead time reportedly fell from 130 days to two weeks. Samyoung Machinery reported 40% faster piston casting after replacing assembled cores with a single binder-jetted sand core. FAW described a 43-printer AM center in use on three production models, with RMB 30.59M in annual savings on trim, although its metal engine and exhaust parts are still samples. All figures come from the companies themselves, and none gives yield or unit cost.

Samyoung Machinery says it cut piston casting time by 40% by replacing assembled sand cores with a single binder-jetted sand core. The report calls the process faster and cheaper but gives no cost figure. Samyoung, based in Gongju, makes medium-speed engine parts and also builds printers. It has used sand binder jetting in its own casting since 2014, developed its own large sand printer in 2020 and now sells a production model, the BR-S2200. The 40% figure therefore comes from a company that both sells the printers and runs the printed cores through its own foundry.

Ford and Michigan foundries validated printed sand molds for Sharrow Engineering's propellers. The companies report that propeller manufacturing lead time fell from 130 days to two weeks. The number is not new. The same 130-day-to-two-week figure was reported on 2026-04-23, and the Ford supply arrangement was announced on 2026-05-07. Coverage of the figure also varies: some outlets say "as little as two weeks," and at least one headline says casting time fell to three days. That suggests different outlets are measuring different intervals.

FAW described a 43-printer automotive AM center and said it uses additive processes on three production models. It reported RMB 30.59 million in annual savings on trim. Its metal engine and exhaust components are still samples. FAW did not say which processes the trim parts use, and we found no figure for what the center cost, so the savings can't be compared with the investment.

This Week in Brief

Funding

3DC - 3DC secured Gyeongnam investment alongside its TIPS selection, backing a two-year program to 3D print hollow metal microlattice catalyst carriers for emergency-generator exhaust treatment.

Product & Technology

3DC - 3DC won a place in Korea's TIPS program, which funds two years of work on DLP-derived hollow metal microlattice catalyst carriers for emergency-generator exhaust treatment.
Divergent - Divergent says its DAPS platform, which combines design, metal AM and automated assembly, cuts defense hardware turnaround below three months; qualification and production economics remain unresolved.
Zellerfeld - Zellerfeld and Havaianas revealed the Top Toe Mule, a shoe made without stitching or adhesive, which debuts October 5 before an October 14 global release.
Metalprinting - Metalprinting will demonstrate its GAUSS MT90 paste-extrusion and sintering metal printer at AMXPO 2026, aiming at small manufacturers, university labs and high-value components.
Harvestance - Harvestance showed AI geometry generation driven by design requirements and metal-printed aluminum heat exchangers at AEROTEC 2026, without disclosing measured time savings or performance data.
MedySseI - MedySseI received FDA 510(k) clearance for its NeckTune SA cervical cage, which pairs a PEEK spacer with a 3D-printed titanium-alloy plate; revenue is expected from 1H 2027.
Kifco Aerospace - Kifco Aerospace patented an LPBF aluminum cooling device for ATHENA laser weapons that combines gyroid geometry with phase-change material; performance data and system validation remain undisclosed.
Korea Aerospace Industries - Korea Aerospace Industries outlined a materials strategy for low-cost UAVs, citing metal AM build rates of 53 cc/hour and roughly 25% lower powder costs.
Massivit - Massivit is extending its RapidWings composite tooling service through Oregon-based ARTEK, offering on-demand Cast-In Motion tooling to North American aerospace and defense customers.
BMF - BMF printed 10 μm struts and 40 μm walls within an 85x85x20 mm specimen on its microArch S330A; production yield and finished-part accuracy remain unquantified.
Made - Made won one of three venture awards for silicon carbide binder jetting, which it pairs with heat treatment and infiltration to make semiconductor-equipment and satellite-optics parts.
Yamaichi Hagane - Yamaichi Hagane doubled its AM production capacity by adding self-developed 3IxD polymer printers for industrial feeders and jigs, while also pursuing decorative-product markets.
MADDE - MADDE received recognition as one of three ventures for SiC binder jetting with in-house thermal and infiltration post-processing; qualification metrics remain undisclosed.
VulcanForms - VulcanForms is planning a $1.3B Devens factory of up to 1 million sq. ft. with 1,063 jobs, supported by $21.26M in Massachusetts tax credits.

Partnership

Tepu Chuang Laser Technology - Toptra (Tepu Chuang Laser Technology) reported five AI-server cooling orders worth about RMB30 million since August, joining NVIDIA's supply chain through a Foxconn-linked manufacturer.

Compiled from 27 sources across AMPulse's news index. Week 40 of 2026.