IperionX and Carver Pump to accelerate critical titanium part production for US Navy
IperionX, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA, has announced a project with Carver Pump Company, Muscatine, Iowa, USA, to accelerate the production of critical long lead time titanium components for naval shipbuilding.
Carver Pump has placed an initial purchase order with IperionX for prototype titanium components. Leveraging its low-cost titanium metal powder and integrated in-house manufacturing, IperionX will produce and test cost-competitive casting replacements for pump systems deployed across US Navy surface vessels.
The Carver Pump purchase order marks a key milestone in the IperionX and Carver Pump partnership, which has now advanced from the project planning phase into prototyping. This progression has been enabled by the steady-state production of titanium metal powder from IperionX’s recently commissioned Titanium Production Facility in Virginia.
Titanium components are essential for US Navy pump systems due to their high strength-to-weight ratio, corrosion resistance and ability to withstand extreme marine environments. However, supply chain constraints for traditionally cast titanium parts have created bottlenecks in naval ship construction and maintenance. Lead times for critical pump components produced via conventional casting often exceed 12 months, contributing to potential machine and ship downtime.
The IperionX/Carver Pump project is designed to reduce lead times. Under the project, each titanium component is expected to be produced in less than one week using IperionX’s high-quality, low-cost domestically produced titanium metal powder and advanced manufacturing capabilities.
Successful completion of the prototyping and testing phase reportedly has the potential to lead to significantly larger scale production agreements with Carver Pump and the US Navy for additional components using IperionX’s low-cost titanium powder and proprietary sintering technologies.
Anastasios (Taso) Arima, IperionX CEO, shared, “Partnering with Carver Pump underscores how IperionX’s advanced titanium technologies can help resolve the most pressing supply chain challenges facing the US defence industrial base, including for titanium casting and forging replacements. Transitioning from lead times measured in years to timelines measured in days allows us to better support on-time naval shipbuilding and sustainment, directly enhancing fleet readiness. We look forward to validating this capability in the prototyping phase and to advance towards scalable, enduring production programs with Carver Pump and the US Navy.”
