Colibrium wins $31M NAVAIR contract to qualify six metal alloys for naval aviation MRO

Colibrium Additive has secured a $31 million contract from the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) to support the qualification and certification of metal additive manufacturing for maintenance, repair, and operations. The contract, part of NAVAIR’s Additive Manufacturing Capability initiative, tasks Colibrium with developing six Material Process Combinations (MPCs) for alloys including 316L, CoCr, Ti-6Al-4V, AlSi7Mg, IN718, 17-4PH, and the proprietary aluminum alloy 7050-RAM2 from Elementum. The scope includes optimizing process parameters, consolidating specifications, and establishing design allowables, with a specific focus on fatigue life in thin-walled components. The deal also includes the delivery of three M Line and one M2 Series 5 metal LPBF printers, alongside comprehensive training for Navy personnel.

This contract is a significant escalation of the defense vertical's politically accelerated adoption wave, moving beyond prototyping into the core of the aerospace qualification grind for sustainment. It directly addresses the NDAA-mandated push for domestic, qualified AM supply chains for critical spares, locking Colibrium's hardware and process expertise into a long-term, high-barrier naval aviation workflow. The inclusion of 7050-RAM2 is a notable win for Elementum, signaling a formal policy-driven pull-through of a specialized material into a protected defense specification, a classic example of IP lock-in grind where technical innovation becomes embedded in official qualification documents.

For Colibrium, the practical next step is flawless execution to deliver the certified MPCs, which will serve as a durable technical moat and a reference for other defense and aerospace programs. The real value lies not in the printer sale, but in becoming the authorized source for Navy-specific process knowledge and design allowables. This contract validates a service-heavy model for defense AM, where the revenue is in the sustained application engineering and data stewardship, not just the capital equipment.