- ARC, ORNL partner on AI-enabled defense manufacturing initiative
- Exascale Foundry aims to speed production and qualification timelines
- Effort targets supply chain bottlenecks in mission-critical components
Autonomous Resource Corp. and Oak Ridge National Laboratory have formed a partnership to accelerate artificial intelligence-enabled manufacturing and address critical production shortfalls throughout the defense industrial base.
ORNL said Wednesday the partnership, called the Exascale Foundry, combines its high-performance computing and advanced manufacturing capabilities with ARC’s distributed autonomous manufacturing platform to create a closed-loop production and qualification system for mission-critical defense components.
Under a newly signed memorandum of understanding, ARC will connect seven advanced manufacturing production nodes to ORNL through a secure ARCNet infrastructure, enabling real-time AI-driven manufacturing, materials qualification and production scaling.
“By combining ORNL’s world-leading computational, materials science, and manufacturing capabilities with our autonomous production infrastructure, we can compress manufacturing and qualification timelines from years to months and deliver manufactured parts at the volumes the warfighter needs,” said ARC CEO Bryan Wisk.
How Will the Exascale Foundry Support Defense Manufacturing?
ORNL will provide access to its high-performance computing environment for simulation-driven materials characterization and qualification efforts. The collaboration will also leverage technologies developed at the lab’s large-scale, open-access Manufacturing Demonstration Facility.
A key component of the initiative is ORNL’s Peregrine AI software, which has reportedly analyzed more than 1.9 million additive manufacturing layers. The software will be integrated into ARC’s production infrastructure to support adaptive manufacturing controls and automated quality assurance.
The effort will initially focus on producing high-temperature nickel superalloy turbine components for autonomous air vehicle engines using metal binder jetting technology, an area identified as a major bottleneck within the defense supply chain.
Moe Khaleel, ORNL associate laboratory director for national security sciences, said the collaboration aims to accelerate the transition of research technologies into operational manufacturing environments.
How Does the Partnership Align With Broader Defense Manufacturing Priorities?
The collaboration aligns with DOE’s Genesis Mission, a national initiative focused on accelerating scientific discovery, advanced manufacturing and national security innovation through high-performance computing and AI technologies.
The partnership builds on ORNL’s expanding role in defense manufacturing initiatives. In 2025, the laboratory partnered with the University of Oklahoma to establish a metal additive manufacturing center focused on aerospace and defense technologies supporting Air Force sustainment and readiness efforts.
