IperionX Limited (ASX: IPX) has agreed to an order with Lockheed Martin for the delivery of titanium plate components produced using IperionX’s US manufactured titanium.
Lockhead says IperionX’s advanced titanium production technologies have the potential to provide a lower cost and more sustainable US domestic supply chain for titanium raw material.
“Reducing the cost of titanium components will mean broader use of this material to increase the performance of our products,” said Brian Rosenberger, Lockheed Martin senior fellow for Additive Manufacturing Processes and Materials. “With this order, Lockheed Martin will perform an initial evaluation of the material quality and mechanical performance of IperionX’s titanium plate material.”
The titanium plate components for Lockheed Martin will be manufactured with powder metallurgy production methods and IperionX’s advanced titanium angular powder. To deliver higher performance and durability, IperionX will also employ its patented Hydrogen Sintering and Phase Transformation (HSPT) technologies, a cutting-edge technique to enhance the microstructure of titanium parts to deliver strength and fatigue properties that are comparable to wrought titanium alloys.
Titanium is prized for its high strength-to-weight ratio, resistance to high temperatures and corrosion. Titanium is a critical material for many U.S. defense systems, including military fighter aircraft and engines, munition and weapon components, naval platforms and military ground vehicles. Lockheed Martin makes heavy use of titanium alloys for critical structures and other key components across the breadth of its products for air, land, sea, and space.
The United States has very limited domestic primary titanium metal (titanium sponge) capacity, resulting in the US importing over 95% of the titanium sponge required for the US defense sector. IperionX plans to re-shore titanium metal production to the U.S., reduce the acute reliance on titanium imports from foreign nations, and strengthen the domestic titanium supply chain for critical defense systems.
Titanium has been mass produced in the same way since the 1940’s when the existing ‘Kroll Process’ was developed. The Kroll Process is energy intensive, high cost and produces high levels of greenhouse gas emissions. In contrast, IperionX’s titanium production technologies use less energy to produce high-strength titanium, at lower costs, with zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions.
This collaboration with Lockheed Martin is another important milestone towards the rapid commercialization of IperionX’s breakthrough low-carbon titanium technologies. These patented technologies can either use titanium minerals or titanium scrap metal as feedstock to manufacture high quality titanium products at significantly lower cost and carbon footprint than existing production processes,” IperionX CEO, Anastasios (Taso) Arima, said.
