America Makes announces Affordable and Agile Composite AM Structures project call

America Makes and the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM) announce a new open project call funded by the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Materials and Manufacturing Directorate worth a total of $450K. The project call, Affordable and Agile Composite Additive Manufactured Structures (AACAMS), aims to establish a well-articulated set of roadmaps and reports that will lay the groundwork for investment by the Department of Defense (DOD) and industry to fully mature the continuous fiber additive manufacturing (CFAM) capability and ensure it reaches scale. This study will build a comprehensive understanding of the current CFAM landscape, the technology gaps limiting adoption, and the attributes of this technology that integrators need to mature before deploying CFAM in their products. One award is anticipated.

As global competition intensifies, rapidly producing components for critical weapons and support platforms at affordable mass is imperative. The DOD has prioritized CFAM for its ability to produce robust, lightweight parts by combining plastics with long fibers such as carbon or fiberglass, delivering high performance. Fully matured, CFAM unlocks a highly flexible and adaptable fabrication process that can rapidly shift production between different part types as the design cycle accelerates from concept to fielding. For this roadmap study, CFAM includes any process capable of depositing an unbroken fiber and polymer matrix into a 3D part. This can include layer-by-layer deposition, deposition onto a 3D surface, or freeform fabrication.

“Today’s warfighter faces a dynamic landscape that demands increased speed, agility, and acute precision to effectively compete,” said John Martin, Additive Manufacturing Research Director at America Makes. “This project serves as an opportunity to advance AM through a strategic roadmap to integrate AM technologies into production, accelerating defense resilience and the warfighter’s advantage. As an Institute, we are honored to lead projects like AACAMS that not only validate the transformative potential of AM but also afford the warfighter a decisive edge.”

Project call timeline:

• Launch: August 27, 2025
• Kickoff Webinar: September 4, 2025 [2pm-3pm EDT] (Registration Required)
• Questions Due from Proposers about Scope or Approach: September 11, 2025
• Membership Eligibility Deadline: October 17, 2025
• Submission Deadline by 5 p.m. ET: October 28, 2025
• Anticipated Awards Announcement: November 28, 2025

Proposers of the project call are advised to reference the RFP for full details and guidelines.