The Department of Defense today announced award of $23.4 million via the Defense Production Act Investment (DPAI) Program to 6k Additive, LLC to expand capability to upcycle waste and scrap material for conversion into higher grade metals for use in defense and commercial supply chains.
"U.S. dependency on foreign sources for specialty metals presents a significant risk to national security," said Dr. Laura Taylor-Kale, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy (ASD (IBP)). "6K's products will feed supply chains that form the basis of our military's core warfighting capabilities."
The award will enable 6K Additive to execute facility renovation, equipment acquisition and installation, and engineering. This will result in production capacity for high-grade metals to include titanium, niobium, nickel, and tungsten. These metals are used in alloys for aircraft structural components, turbine engine blades, rocket engines, radar systems, and many other key defense applications. 6K Additive's proprietary upcycling processes leverage abundant domestic sources of metal feedstock, to include end-of-life components, machine shop waste, and scrap from manufacturing processes such as casting and forging.
To date in calendar year 2023, the DPAI Program has made 24 awards totaling $735 million. DPAI is overseen by the ASD (IBP)'s Manufacturing Capability Expansion and Investment Program (MCEIP), in the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Resilience. With MCEIP's help, 6K Additive expects to achieve full rate production at their Burgettstown, PA facility by the end of 2026.
