AMufacture CEO Calls for UK Defense Procurement Overhaul, Citing AM Supply Chain Readiness

Portsmouth-based contract manufacturer AMufacture has called on the UK government to overhaul defense procurement, warning that slow traditional purchasing processes could prevent domestic suppliers from delivering on the Defence Investment Plan’s (DIP) £5 billion commitment to autonomous systems. CEO Craig Pyser, who also chairs Additive Manufacturing UK (AMUK), welcomed the plan’s publication but cautioned that optimism must be matched by action, stating the UK “squandered the peace dividend for 80 years” and cannot afford to squander the defense dividend. AMufacture operates one of Europe’s largest fleets of HP Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) polymer printers and reported defense as its largest revenue sector in 2026, already producing parts for autonomous platforms across air, land, sea, and underwater domains. Pyser argued that AM’s tooling-free production model allows rapid design iteration without retooling, citing Ukraine’s continuous drone design modifications as operationally relevant evidence of this adaptability.

This intervention lands at a critical juncture for the UK’s defense-AM relationship. The DIP commits substantial funding but leaves procurement mechanisms largely unchanged, creating a gap between stated ambition and industrial reality. AMufacture’s position as a mid-sized contract manufacturer with existing defense production capacity makes it a credible test case for whether the government’s “hub and spoke” forward-deployed manufacturing model will actually reach agile SME suppliers or concentrate with larger primes better equipped to navigate the current system. The UK is NATO’s lead nation for AM adoption, a designation that carries both influence and expectation, but translating that into industrial participation requires procurement decisions that favor domestic, flexible suppliers. Pyser’s call for fiscal incentives tied to defense-related employment and investment-including business rate discounts and tax reliefs-highlights the workforce and financial sustainability challenges that the DIP’s funding allocation alone cannot solve.

For AMufacture, the immediate challenge is converting policy rhetoric into contract wins. The company’s existing MJF fleet and defense revenue base provide a credible foundation, but the procurement system’s inertia remains the binding constraint. Pyser’s dual role as AMUK chair gives him a platform to push for systemic change, but the proof will be in whether the DIP’s £5 billion reaches companies like his within the next 12–18 months. The UK’s defense-AM ecosystem needs procurement reform, not just funding commitments, to turn capability into deployed capacity.