Advanced Manufacturing.
Wire-arc additive cells that print shells and high-integrity parts with no forge and no minimum order - run by VitalWIRE, proven by VitalTRACE.
A shell body printed without a forge, in four steps.
Wire-arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) is robotic welding that builds metal parts layer by layer from wire. Our cells print everything from shells to parts for defence, maritime, aerospace, and oil and gas.
Wire
Certified wire alloys from steel and aluminium to titanium are tested and released.
Build
A robot lays down the wire layer by layer, logging every one. For shells, the copper driving band is welded in during the build.
Machine
A CNC machine finishes the part to drawing, within fractions of a millimetre.
Inspect
Every part is ultrasonically tested, and the result joins its record.
A new cell adds capacity in months, not years.
| Forged body | Printed body | |
|---|---|---|
| New capacity | 2-3 years for a new forge line | 12-16 weeks per cell, from order |
| Changing calibre | 40-60 days to retool | Load a new design file |
| Minimum order | High | One body |
| Time per shell | 7-14 hours, in large batches | About 11 hours, in continuous flow |
| Steel per 155 mm body | About 60 kg | About 32 kg |
| Energy | Forging, heating and quench | Up to 40% less |
| Cost per shell | Economic only at high volume | 6-20% lower, depending on design |
Designed to run lights-out with a small crew. About 450 shells a month today; at least 1,000 a month by Q2 2027.
We build your parts and systems in the UK.
- Build to print
- Available now
- Build with us
- Available now
- Barrel remanufacture
- Available now
- Licensed production
- In negotiations
You send the design; we deliver to your specification in high-strength and marine steels, nickel superalloy, copper-nickel, titanium and aluminium. Defence manufacturers add capacity by building with us. Worn artillery barrels are rebuilt by wire-arc additive and machining. And we build partners’ systems under licence in the UK, such as unmanned ground vehicles.
Run by VitalWIRE. Proven by VitalTRACE.
VitalWIRE is the system that runs our cells - and it will be available to license. Every layer, machining pass and inspection a cell performs is written to the part’s VitalTRACE record.
VitalWIRE licensing - coming soon