Norsk Titanium VP details RPD part supply to Airbus, Boeing, and General Atomics on Additive Insight podcast
Hardware
Originally reported by TCT Magazine
Norsk Titanium Vice President of Engineering Jack Adams appeared on the Additive Insight podcast to discuss the company's ongoing supply of structural titanium parts to Airbus, Boeing, and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems. Adams detailed the fundamentals of Norsk's Rapid Plasma Deposition (RPD) process, the evolution of its Merke machine series, and the specific applications the company is now producing for these OEMs. Norsk Titanium holds FAA approval and OEM qualification as a supplier for structural titanium components, positioning it as a rare production-scale metal additive manufacturing partner in commercial aerospace.
This update reinforces a core dynamic in the aerospace additive manufacturing segment: the qualification grind is real, and silence often signals maturity. Norsk Titanium has moved past the marketing phase and into embedded supply-chain infrastructure for Airbus and Boeing, exactly the pattern seen with GE's LEAP fuel nozzle. The RPD process, a form of directed energy deposition (DED), competes with traditional forging and machining for large titanium structural parts, offering buy-to-fly ratios that can drop from 10:1 to near-net shape. The company's ability to maintain FAA and OEM qualification across multiple programs places it in a narrow competitive tier alongside Western DED specialists, while Chinese DED competitors remain largely excluded from this certified supply chain due to defense and qualification barriers.
For industry observers, the practical takeaway is that Norsk Titanium's continued presence on these programs validates DED as a production-capable process for large structural titanium, not just a repair or cladding tool. The company's next challenge is scaling machine throughput and material utilization to compete on cost with conventional forging at higher volumes. Buyers evaluating DED for aerospace should track Norsk's machine reliability data and per-part cost trends, as these will determine whether RPD expands beyond current low-to-mid volume production into broader airframe applications.
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