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Some of the hardest engineering problems in aerospace have nothing to do with speed or weight. They have to do with heat. A rocket nozzle or a hypersonic vehicle’s leading edge can face temperatures above 2,000°C, conditions that would melt or warp most metals within seconds. The materials that survive these environments belong to a small family known as refractory metals, and the powdered form of these metals has become essential to modern manufacturing.
Refractory alloy powders are fine, spherical particles of metals such as niobium, molybdenum, and tantalum that are fused together, layer by layer, using additive manufacturing equipment. This process allows engineers to build complex parts, like thrusters or thermal shielding, that would be difficult or impossible to machine from a solid block. One alloy in particular, known as Niobium C103, has been used in aerospace propulsion since the Apollo missions of 1969, prized for its strength relative to its weight and its ability to hold up under extreme heat. C103 is made up of roughly 89% niobium, 10% hafnium, and 1% titanium, and that hafnium content has become a growing concern. Over the past three years, hafnium prices have climbed more than 700%, now trading at around $12,500 per kilogram, largely because so few sources of the metal exist outside a handful of countries. That kind of price volatility has pushed defense planners to look for alternatives that can match C103’s performance without the same supply risk.
That search is what brought the U.S. Department of War to Amaero Inc. (ASX: 3DA), a Tennessee based producer of refractory and titanium powders. The company recently announced it had been awarded a contract worth roughly $4.54 million (A$6.51 million) to help develop alternative high temperature refractory alloys that could serve as substitutes for C103. The work is expected to run for 13 months, wrapping up in August 2027, with payments tied to project milestones along the way. Amaero anticipates recognizing about 40% of the contract’s revenue in the third and fourth quarters of 2026, with roughly 50% following in the first half of 2027.
Under the agreement, Amaero will work alongside national laboratories and other defense and space contractors to narrow the field down to two promising alloy candidates. The company plans to atomize these materials using its gas atomization equipment, then produce and test sample parts through its own manufacturing process, alongside partners who will help with additional testing. Hank Holland, Amaero’s Chairman and CEO, said the award reflects the company’s position as a trusted partner capable of helping the government establish the testing and production data needed to move new materials toward wider use.
For a company whose work rarely reaches mainstream attention, the contract is a meaningful vote of confidence from one of the world’s largest buyers of advanced materials. It also reflects a broader shift underway across the defense and aerospace sectors, where the search for domestic, cost stable alternatives to volatile raw materials has become as important as the performance of the materials themselves.
