Additive Manufacturing in Defense: Applications and Implementation Framework for Smaller Nations

Abstract

Additive Manufacturing (AM) has emerged as a key enabling technology for the development of defense capabilities, owning to a series of unique competitive advantages, such as rapid prototyping, low and mid-volume production, mission-specific equipment adaptation, repair, remanufacturing, obsolescence management and distributed manufacturing across multiple material families. This paper reviews the uptake and maturity of AM applications across key defense domains, including aerospace, naval platforms, ground vehicles, personnel, infrastructure, munitions and cross-domain ceramic applications, considering both established and emerging use cases. The paper also analyses key AM Defense Application Frameworks, including the U.S. DOD AM Strategy, DOD AM Roadmap and EDA-AM State of the Art & Strategic Report. Building on these, a Practical Implementation Framework is proposed, focusing on a smaller national perspective, where AM adoption is positioned as a progressive pathway; first, by supporting existing production through tooling and prototyping, then enabling product redesign and customized components, and finally contributing to logistics transformation through secure distributed manufacturing and repair/remanufacturing capabilities. Finally, the Greek defense ecosystem is assessed in terms of policies, supplier base, and industrial and research capabilities. Within this scope, opportunities and constraints for AM integration are identified, and two practical implementation scenarios are examined.