America Makes announces AAMI project call worth $1.1 million

America Makes and the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM) are proud to announce a new open project call funded by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering’s Manufacturing Technology Office (OSD(R&E)), worth a total of $1.1 million. The project call, Allied Additive Manufacturing Interoperability (AAMI) Program, aims to establish additive manufacturing (AM) equivalency and interoperability between the United States Department of Defense (DOD) and United Kingdom (UK) Ministry of Defense (MOD) supply chains, focusing on laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) of critical parts. The project will also identify barriers to allied interoperability and support the development of international qualification approaches. Two awards are anticipated.

AM is of significant interest to the U.S. manufacturing base as the technology enables shorter lead times, mass customization, energy reduction, complex shapes, and production of parts on demand, providing benefits to both new acquisitions and legacy systems. The ability of AM to address product manufacturing demand volumes at scale primarily relies upon the number of machines capable and available. This reality introduces the necessity for manufacturing partnerships domestically and internationally. In the last four years, the benefits and impacts of regional approaches to distributed manufacturing supply chain development have gained considerable attention. Executing AM distributed manufacturing at scale requires in-depth understanding of supply chain capability and capacity, materials, manufacturing technology, product design intent, specifications, and standards. Therefore, qualification of AM processes and components remains a major technoeconomic challenge.

The U.S. and the UK face shared challenges in adopting AM, including process qualification and certification, intellectual property rights, secure data transmission, and supply chain integration. This initiative, in alignment with the UK Advanced Manufacturing Strategy and the U.S. Regional Sustainment Framework (RSF), aims to overcome these hurdles and build a resilient and globally connected Defense Industrial Base adaptable to complex logistical demands.

“The current defense sustainment model relies on legacy materials and processes insufficient for today's complex operational challenges. This project allows participants to propose a structured framework for additive manufacturing supplier qualification, emphasizing performance-based approaches for consistent part production among allied nations,” says Ben DiMarco, Technology Transition Director at America Makes. "By demonstrating AM equivalency and interoperability between the U.S. and U.K., we are advancing qualification methodologies for laser powder bed fusion while accelerating real-world implementation of these capabilities. This initiative highlights the power of collaboration in overcoming technical, regulatory, and supply chain challenges, ensuring AM delivers tangible benefits to the warfighter and allied defense operations.”