Executive Summary

The United States military faces a growing crisis in the sustainment of legacy weapons systems. Aging aircraft, ground vehicles, and naval vessels require replacement castings for components that were originally produced decades ago. In many cases, the original tooling has been lost, the original foundries have closed, and the original supply chains no longer exist.

The result is a sustainment bottleneck that extends repair timelines, increases costs, and reduces mission readiness. The Department of Defense has recognized this challenge and is actively investing in advanced manufacturing solutions that can restore the ability to produce critical castings on demand.

DDM Systems’ LAMP™ ceramic 3D printing technology directly addresses this crisis. By producing investment casting molds from digital files rather than physical tooling, DDM enables on-demand production of legacy parts without the need for historical tooling, wax patterns, or extended supply chains.

$174B DoD FY2024 Procurement

66% Lead Time Compressed

0 Tooling Required

ITAR Registered

The Sustainment Challenge

The U.S. military operates platforms designed to remain in service for decades. The B-52 bomber, first flown in 1952, is expected to serve until the 2050s. The F-15 Eagle, introduced in 1976, remains in active frontline service. The A-10 Thunderbolt II, designed in the 1970s, continues to provide close air support in combat operations worldwide.

These platforms require a constant supply of replacement parts. Many of those parts are precision metal castings, including turbine blades, structural components, hydraulic housings, control surfaces, and weapon system elements.

Why Legacy Castings Are So Difficult to Source

• Original tooling (dies, molds, patterns) was often discarded after production runs ended
• Original foundries may have closed, merged, or shifted production focus
• Technical data packages may be incomplete, outdated, or classified
• Traditional re-creation of tooling requires 52 to 80 weeks and significant capital investment
• Minimum order quantities from traditional foundries make small-batch production uneconomical
• Material specifications may reference obsolete alloy designations requiring careful cross-referencing

The Defense Logistics Agency and military service sustainment commands have reported growing backlogs of parts awaiting casting production. In some cases, entire aircraft are grounded while awaiting a single replacement casting.

The Digital Solution

DDM’s approach to defense sustainment begins with a digital model. If a CAD file exists, it can be used directly. If not, DDM can work from 3D scans, 2D engineering drawings, or even reverse-engineered physical samples to create the digital model needed for production.

From Scan to Casting in Weeks, Not Years

DDM demonstrated this capability in a project with the U.S. Air Force through the AFWERX Fusion 2020 program. An F-15 roll ratio servo cover, a legacy aluminum casting, was produced in 39 days from digital scan to finished casting. The traditional supply chain timeline for the same part exceeded 100 days.

Case Study: F-15 Roll Ratio Servo Cover Partners: DDM, Signicast, Moog  |  Material: Aluminum A357  A legacy fighter jet component was reverse-engineered from a physical sample, digitally modeled, and produced using DirectPour™. The result compressed production lead time by 66% while eliminating all tooling costs.

A-10 Thunderbolt II Control Input Arm

In another demonstration, DDM produced a control input arm for the A-10 Thunderbolt II in A356 aluminum. The part went from digital model to finished casting in 10 days. Radiographic inspection confirmed the casting met Class 1 Grade A acceptability criteria, the highest quality standard for investment castings.

DDM’s Defense Credentials

DDM Systems maintains the registrations, memberships, and credentials required to serve the defense industrial base.

Credential	Status	Date
ITAR Registration	Active	July 9, 2024
Defense Industrial Base Consortium	Member	May 28, 2024
America Makes	Silver Member	July 18, 2023
Cornerstone OTA	Member	September 9, 2024
CAGE Code	71N28	Active
Unique Entity ID (UEID)	CXJ3LCNKBXM9	Active

Government-Funded Technology Validation

• DARPA DMT: $6.3M for original LAMP™ technology development (2007-2012)
• ARPA-E OPEN 2021: $3.3M (with GE Vernova) for high-yield casting research
• America Makes IMPACT 1.0: $1.8M as part of $11.7M AFRL program (2023)
• America Makes IMPACT 2.0: $500K Rapid Casting Demonstration Challenge (2025)
• DOE HPC4EI: High-Performance Computing Grant with Oak Ridge National Lab (2022)

The Digital Inventory Advantage

One of the most compelling aspects of DDM’s approach for defense applications is the concept of a digital inventory. Rather than storing physical tooling in warehouses for decades, defense program managers can maintain a digital library of casting designs that can be printed on demand whenever a replacement is needed.

This approach eliminates tooling storage costs, eliminates the risk of tooling degradation, and ensures that parts can be produced at any time in the future as long as the digital file is preserved.

Benefits for Defense Program Managers

• Dramatically compressed lead times for legacy part replacement
• Zero tooling investment for initial production or design modifications
• Digital archival of part designs for permanent on-demand availability
• Compatibility with ITAR-controlled materials and processes
• Qualification to ASTM and Investment Casting Institute standards
• Scalability from single prototype to production quantities using the same process
• Support for both air-melt and vacuum-melt casting operations

Conclusion

The defense supply chain crisis for legacy castings will not be solved by traditional methods. The tooling is gone. The foundries have changed. The timelines are unacceptable for mission-critical platforms.

Ceramic 3D printing offers a fundamentally new approach. By converting physical parts into digital files and printing casting molds directly from those files, DDM Systems provides the Department of Defense with the ability to produce any casting, for any platform, on demand.

DDM’s LAMP™ technology has been validated through DARPA, ARPA-E, and America Makes programs. The company holds active ITAR registration, DIB Consortium membership, and the CAGE code, UEID, and NAICS classifications required for federal contracting.

The future of defense sustainment is digital. DDM Systems is building it.