Principal Optical Engineer

AML3D secures $2.2 million ARCEMY X order from Northrop Grumman. October 26, 2026 AML3D Limited, headquartered in Australia, has announced a $2.2 million initial order for a large-scale, ARCEMY(R) X machine from US Navy prime contractor Northrop Grumman Marine Systems. The order includes a two-year maintenance and services package. Northrop Grumman, based in Sunnyvale, California, is a supplier to the U.S. Navy, providing components for naval propulsion, power generation, and missile launch systems. "This contract is an important milestone for Northrop Grumman and for Australian industry," said Rob Denney, Country Executive Australia, Northrop Grumman. "AML3D is the first Australian supplier we've engaged for submarine industrial base manufacturing. By joining our Australian supply chain, AML3D will play an important role across multiple programs, accelerating SIB manufacturing in the United States." AML3D, selected for its large-scale wire-based Directed Energy Deposition (DED) technology, already has a track record of supplying ARCEMY machines to solve US Navy supply chain constraints impacting submarine and naval shipbuilding programs. The ARCEMY X will be supplied from AML3D's US technology centre in Stow, Ohio, and installed at Northrop Grumman's manufacturing facility in Sunnyvale (NGC-Sunnyvale). According to the company, this initial order for NGC-Sunnyvale aims to demonstrate AML3D's success in converting the demand for ARCEMY(R) machines to support the US Navy's Marine Industrial Base (MIB) into orders. AML3D now has contracts in place covering 17 ARCEMY machines in the US, with prime contractors including Newport News Shipbuilding, Austal USA, Cogitic and Laser Welding Solutions. The terms for the $2.2 million order include a 50% payment upon completion of the initial project milestone, with subsequent milestone payments through final installation, which is expected in the fourth quarter of the 2027 financial year. "Beginning work with Northrop Grumman is very exciting for AML3D and further validates ARCEMY(R) as a technology solution for critical US Navy supply-chain requirements," AML3D CEO Sean Ebert commented. "The Board and management have worked closely and diligently to develop and implement AML3D's US Scale-up growth strategy and supplying our technology to another major US prime contractor strongly endorses that strategy and our ability to convert demand into commercial orders."

US Air Force invests in demonstrator for Natilus' KONA BWB. Natilus has received $3.5 million in Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) funding to develop a blended-wing body aircraft for the US Air Force. The funding is to help accelerate the development of Natilus's 3.8-ton payload optionally piloted KONA regional freighter toward a full-scale flight demonstrator. The initial focus is to demonstrate KONA as a right-sized distribution platform for intra-theater lift and contested logistics. The blended wing body (BWB) KONA sits between light utility aircraft like the C-208 and larger tactical airlifters such as the C-130. It has the potential to fill the gap with a new class of sub-tactical lift. Currently, the primary military mission set for KONA is regional airlift. However, it is being designed with modular architecture and could be developed for other missions over time, including communications relay, ISR, and payload delivery. Natilus CEO Aleksey Matyushev said, "With KONA, the Department of War is evaluating a new airlift capability that can generate real-world cost, reliability, payload and utilization data as the broader military requirement matures." Why the Air Force wants new forward cargo solutions in Indo-Pacific. KONA is being designed for a range of 800 nautical miles and is designed to operate on short runways intended for regional distribution and contested environments. In a future high-end war in the Indo-Pacific, forward runways are expected to be targeted and may be out of action. The Air Force and other service branches are interested in a range of short-runway, or runway-independent solutions for the "last mile" of logistical support in the Indo-Pacific. Blended wing designs offer the potential to significantly lower fuel burn, with Natilus saying its KONA will be able to achieve around a 30% improvement compared with comparable conventional aircraft. For the Air Force, this offers reduced logistical strain in forward-deployed fuel, improved range, and frees up more of its payload capacity. Natilus is currently advancing KONA toward FAA Part 23 certification and full-scale flight testing. Emerging Natilus and JetZero blended wing bodies. KONA is not the only next-generation BWB aircraft the Air Force is investing in. JetZero is currently working with Northrop Grumman with Air Force funding to develop the much larger Z4 blended wing body aircraft. In the commercial sector, the Z4 would occupy a mid-sized airplane segment, roughly that of the Boeing 757/767. In the military sector, it has the potential to be a much larger transport aircraft and an aerial refueling tanker. Both Natilus and JetZero see dual miltiary and commercial applications for their aircraft. JetZero's investors include United Airlines and Alaska Airlines. Natilus is developing a family of BWB aircraft. It claims to have accumulated 570+ aircraft pre-orders valued at $24 billion. Besides reducing fuel consumption by 30%, it aims for the aircraft to reduce operational costs by 50% and increase payload capacity by 40%.

US agrees to buy at least 850 more F-35 fighter jets from Lockheed. 22 Oct 2026, 09:43 pm A Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter jet. (Oct 22): The Pentagon plans to buy at least 850 additional Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter jets, in what would be the biggest contract in the programme's quarter-century history that signals the stealth warplane will remain a major part of the US arsenal for many years. The contract, which is not yet final, also includes procurement of initial spare parts and modification kits, plus sustainment of the global F-35 fleet over 10 years, the Defense Department said in a statement on Thursday morning. The Pentagon statement did not provide a value for the contract. The jet, which has three variants, costs about US$100 million (RM407.88 million) each. Lockheed Martin will self-fund "at least US$7 billion in initiatives that support" the programme, the Pentagon added. The framework is intended to stabilise prices, insure adequate spare parts supplies and improved reliability in the face of emerging threats like artificial intelligence and drones. Many US fourth-generation jets, like F-15s and F-16s, have been in service for decades and will be retired before the next generation F-47 and F/A-XX aircraft are in production. The renewed award is a vote of confidence in the F-35, after the aircraft became a prime target of criticism under President Donald Trump. Elon Musk said in late 2024 that "some idiots are still building manned fighter jets like the F-35" in a new era of warfare focused on autonomous flight. Previous F-35 contracts have been finalised in "blocks" typically of three years, but Lockheed Martin, which 25 years ago this month won a contest with Boeing Co to build the fighter, has for years sought a larger, multi-year contract because it almost guarantees - subject to annual congressional appropriations - a stable revenue stream and orders for hundreds of subcontractors. In this case, the framework calls for producing 156 jets per year over a decade. The US this year approved similar deals to increase production of critical munitions such as air defence interceptors. "We have fundamentally changed how we stabilise the American defense industrial base to produce at speed and scale," Under Secretary for Acquisition Michael Duffey said in a statement on Thursday. "This agreement with Lockheed Martin proves it." Lockheed Martin president and chief executive officer Jim Taiclet said in a statement that "with the greater certainty that comes from the US government's transformative approach to F-35 production and sustainment, we can make the upfront investments needed to expand capacity, improve efficiency, and build a more resilient supply chain." "In the coming months, the F-35 Joint Program Office and Lockheed Martin will work to finalise contract terms, pricing, and schedules through a formal contract award," the company said. The US midterm elections in just a few weeks might give Democrats control of Congress, however, which may change spending plans as new lawmakers take up budgets. The F-35 programme has been hampered by repeated instances of low combat readiness or "mission capable rates" and major delays delivering a new software and hardware upgrade called TR3. The cost of the warplane programme - already the most expensive in US history - has risen by about US$51 billion, or roughly 10%, since late 2023 because of software, readiness, spare parts and engine power improvements. More than 1,375 F-35s are in service with militaries around the world - most with the US - and the fleet has surpassed a million flight hours. The warplane has also flown numerous missions during the war with Iran. The F-35 "is the foundation of the Air Force's fighter force structure," the service said in a report to Congress last Friday on the service's long-range fighter plans. Lockheed Martin "continues to produce and modernize F-35s for the Air Force but is currently delivering aircraft with significant combat system gaps," according to the report, obtained by Bloomberg News. Boeing was chosen to build both the F-47 and F/A-XX, while Northrop Grumman Corp is producing the next-generation US bomber, the B-21 Raider. Uploaded by Felyx Teoh