Kratos orders eight-laser AMCM M 8K to print large hypersonic parts in Indiana

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions will install an AMCM M 8K, a large-format multi-laser metal powder bed fusion system from the EOS brand AMCM, at its Indiana Payload Integration Facility in Odon. The machine is meant to produce large components for affordable, high-cadence hypersonic systems. It is a sign that defense primes are moving large-format metal AM in-house.

Context Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) builds metal parts layer by layer by melting thin layers of metal powder with one or more lasers; more lasers allow larger parts to be built faster.

What is Kratos installing and where?

Kratos will place an AMCM M 8K at its Indiana Payload Integration Facility in Odon, near the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division. The system offers a build volume of 800 x 800 x 1,200 mm and eight 1.2 kW lasers with flexible beam shaping. AMCM, an EOS brand, introduced the platform in 2023 for space and defense applications. It combines thermal management, optimised process gas flow, filtration and in-process monitoring.

Kratos says the machine supports low-cost, high-cadence hypersonic testing in programmes such as MACH-TB, where large printed components are needed inside affordable systems.

Why does the Indiana cluster matter?

3DPrint.com places the site in a growing defense cluster around NSWC Crane, including the WestGate@Crane Technology Park and the American Center for Manufacturing and Innovation (ACMI). ACMI was the first buyer of an M 8K, bought for applications such as rocket chambers and fuel tanks. Kratos could also serve both defense and space customers with the same machine, as its work spans both markets.

AMCM has recently announced more production capacity in Germany, which helps supply further M 8K units.

What it means

This continues the earlier AddiWire report on the Kratos order and sits beside the Austin M 8K installation at AMP. For European manufacturers, the signal is that large-format, eight-laser LPBF is being bought where demand is steady and funded, not for prototyping. Such machines make sense only with high utilisation, qualified processes and large parts. Smaller firms are more likely to access this capacity as suppliers or through service partners than to buy it, and should expect demand from defense to compete for machine time and supply.

Frequently asked questions

What are the specifications of the AMCM M 8K?

It has a build volume of 800 x 800 x 1,200 mm and eight 1.2 kW lasers with flexible beam shaping. It was first introduced in 2023 for space and defense uses.

What will Kratos use the AMCM M 8K for?

Kratos plans to print large components for affordable, high-cadence hypersonic systems, including testing programmes such as MACH-TB.

This summary was written with the help of AI from the linked reports, under the editorial responsibility of Svetozar Kolesar.