Nikon Advanced Manufacturing CEO: large-format metal AM must close the Tomahawk production gap

Nikon Advanced Manufacturing CEO Hamid Zarringhalam says defense-driven demand for large-format metal additive manufacturing has moved from forecast to production reality in 2026. The company is among a handful of makers of ultra-large-format metal 3D printers that meet US defense industrial base requirements, running large-format LPBF platforms such as the SLM 280 2.0 Twin alongside a secure engineering and services facility in Long Beach dedicated to defense work. Zarringhalam points to Tomahawk cruise missile output as the clearest evidence gap: 2025 production capacity covered roughly 100 units, while CSIS estimates the US had expended more than 1,000 in the Iran conflict by the end of May, against a 2027 budget request for nearly 800 Tomahawks. He argues precision casting alone cannot close that gap and that large-format metal AM is needed to scale munitions output.

The comments extend a strategy Nikon Advanced Manufacturing has described in interviews since 2024, tying large-format capacity to acquisition-reform momentum inside the Pentagon and to rising allied defense budgets. Zarringhalam cites the EU's 2025 defense doctrine targeting a rise from roughly 2% to 3.5% of GDP, NATO's Hague summit pledge of 5% of GDP by 2035, and Japan's plan to roughly double defense spending, as openings for US-to-ally technology transfer that could speed metal AM qualification abroad. He also frames low-cost cruise missile production as a parallel need alongside expensive interceptors, pointing to Iran and Ukraine using cheap drones against costly interceptor systems.

The interview underscores that qualification and contracting cycles, not machine throughput, remain the binding constraint on how fast large-format metal AM capacity converts into fielded munitions.