Lockheed Martin and Eaton projects chosen for America Makes AM interoperability program

American additive manufacturing accelerator America Makes has selected the winning proposals for its Allied Additive Manufacturing Interoperability (AAMI) Program project call, first launch in March 2025. The project is backed by $1.1 million in funding from the Office of the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering’s Manufacturing Technology Office.

The AAMI project has the goal of increasing additive manufacturing equivalency and interoperability between the United States’s Department of War (formerly the Department of Defense) and the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense. The interoperable supply chain framework will be focused primarily on using laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) for critical part production as well as on identifying barriers to interoperability and establishing international qualification strategies.

Based on this criteria, two project proposals were selected for AAMI funding under the topic “Demonstrating Additive Manufacturing (AM) Equivalency and Interoperability for Defense Sustainment and Supply Chain Resilience”. The first winning proposal was submitted by Lockheed Martin (team lead) along with ASTM International and Additive Manufacturing Solutions, Ltd. The second awardee project is led by power management company Eaton Corporation with partners EOS North America, Siemens’ Materials Solutions and 3Degrees.

On a broad level, the AAMI project represents the growing importance of additive manufacturing in U.S. manufacturing and defense. In recent years especially, there has been an increasing emphasis on building regional and distributed supply chain strategies that offer greater agility and efficiency. Still, hurdles remain when it comes to qualifying AM processes at an international scale and truly reaping the benefits of the technology.

Challenges to AM adoption have been faced by both the US and UK, particularly when it comes to process qualification, intellectual property rights, secure data transmission, and supply chain integration. The AAMI project is informed by these challenges and both winning project proposals aim to address them by supporting the creation of a “globally connected defense industrial base adaptable to complex logistical demands.” On a more specific level, the projects will work to qualify LPBF further for defense applications.

“Defense sustainment still relies on legacy materials and processes that fall short of today’s operational demands. This effort enables teams to propose and demonstrate a qualification framework for metal additive manufacturing suppliers in both the U.S and the U.K, ensuring consistent parts across allied nations,” explained Ben DiMarco, Technology Transition Director at America Makes. “We’re honored to work with leading global experts to prove AM equivalency and interoperability. By advancing laser powder bed fusion qualification and accelerating real-world adoption, we’re demonstrating how collaboration can overcome technical, regulatory, and supply chain hurdles to deliver tangible results to the warfighter and allied defense operations.”

America Makes has not disclosed how the $1.1 million in funding will be divided between the two winning projects, however we expect progress updates on both efforts at upcoming America Makes Technical Review and Exchange (TRX) events.