UK MoD opens registration for March Additive Manufacturing event
UK Ministry of Defence Additive Manufacturing Working Group has announced its first Additive Manufacturing as a Service Challenge (project TAMPA) Face-to-Face Working Group Event of the year. The event is scheduled for Wednesday, March 4, 2026, at Thales Crawley, Crawley, UK.
In early 2021, the then Chief of Defence Logistics & Support (CDLS) Lt Gen Richard Wardlaw, tasked the Defence Support Transformation & Innovation team to test the feasibility of pursuing ‘Additive Manufacturing (AM) as a Service’ across the Front Line Commands (FLCs). This tasking included:
- Examining the choices/processes/technologies available in the marketplace in respect of who should produce components in the context of a centralised strategic base capability, i.e. could a designated OEM provide bespoke AM services to UK MOD on an ‘as required’ basis.
- Establish the degree to which the model could be extended into the MOD Supply Chain.
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Subsequently, and as briefed at DSEI in August 21, CDLS gave notice of the intention to accelerate AM as a key component of the Defence Supply Chain.
A commercial framework has now been created in order to accelerate the maturity of Advanced Manufacturing technologies (in particular Additive Manufacturing) to support the readiness of these technologies for the Defence Inventory, working with DE&S Delivery Teams and FLCs, and fitted to In-Service platforms, for which the build files are transmissible, and IPR and certification has been addressed. This ‘challenge’ was launched by CDLS’ team in April 2022, providing industry with the opportunity to submit proposals on how they could deliver the required ‘AM as a service’ offering (now called Project TAMPA).
Concurrently, a series of co-chaired Working Groups are active, with membership from a wide range of interested, relevant industry and MoD stakeholders, to ensure that the certification, IPR, inventory management and ‘Digital Thread’ aspects of delivering AM to the MoD as a standard offering are suitably addressed. These working groups provide the opportunity for the MoD, industry, research and academic AM community to network and learn from each other, as well as formulate a roadmap for ‘AM as a service’ implementation within UK Defence.
Those interested in attending the event can register here.
