Department of Defense Partners With Arconic for High-Purity Aluminum Supply Boost

Pittsburg, Pennsylvania-based Arconic Corp. has secured a $45.5 million agreement with the Department of Defense’s Office for the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy to boost high-purity aluminum production.

The DOD will use Defense Production Act Title III authorities and funding to enhance HPA production infrastructure at Arconic’s Iowa facility. The funding would also ensure that the company could accommodate increased capacity and new equipment and capabilities, including a new furnace and new control and automation systems.

The agreement ensures that the U.S. defense sector will have a robust local HPA production capacity. It also improves U.S. national security in case of industrial mobilization, the DOD said.

HPA is a critical material used for military and commercial platforms, including aerospace and tactical ground-based vehicles. Some of HPA’s benefits are heat resistance, electrical and thermal conductivity and weight savings.

DPA Title III supports critical production, commercialize research and development efforts and scales emerging technology development across the defense sector. The funds used for the Arconic agreement were from the Additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act, which received $600 million in the fiscal year 2022 to mitigate defense industrial base constraints for faster missile production.