Aerospace and Defense Additive Manufacturing Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, and Forecast, 2021-2031

The Global Aerospace And Defense Additive Manufacturing Market is projected to expand from USD 8.87 Billion in 2025 to USD 23.78 Billion by 2031, registering a CAGR of 17.86%. This industry involves the process of fabricating high-strength, lightweight components by layering materials directly from digital designs. The market is chiefly driven by the imperative to reduce weight for improved aircraft fuel efficiency and the ability to create complex geometries that combine multiple parts into single units, which simplifies assembly. These core drivers are distinct from passing trends and support the enduring adoption of the technology for producing functional, flight-ready components and military hardware.

Despite this positive trajectory, the sector encounters hurdles that could slow its momentum. Data from the VDMA Additive Manufacturing Working Group in 2025 indicates that approximately 77% of surveyed companies anticipated domestic market growth over the coming two years, reflecting robust industrial confidence. However, a significant impediment to faster expansion is the rigorous and protracted certification process mandated by aviation authorities for safety-critical parts. This requirement creates substantial barriers to entry and postpones the commercial deployment of new additive solutions.

Market Drivers

The increasing demand for lightweight components to improve fuel efficiency acts as a primary catalyst for the global market. Manufacturers are utilizing additive manufacturing to reduce structural mass without sacrificing integrity, which is essential for lowering operational costs and carbon emissions. According to the December 2025 press release 'Stratasys Supercharges Airbus Production' by Stratasys, the use of 3D-printed polymer parts on the Airbus A350 led to a 43% weight reduction compared to traditional manufacturing. This ability to optimize material distribution enables the creation of flight-ready components with significantly improved strength-to-weight ratios. Furthermore, an AM Chronicle report from December 2025, titled 'Airbus Now 3D Printing Over 25,000 Flight-Ready Plastic Parts Annually,' confirms that Airbus is producing more than 25,000 flight-ready parts per year, validating the move from prototyping to mass production.

Similarly, rising defense spending on modernization and unmanned systems is driving significant investment in additive technologies for strategic advantages. Defense agencies are prioritizing on-demand production to support aging fleets and accelerate the deployment of next-generation drones and missiles. As reported by Manufacturing Today in the July 2025 article 'US Military additive manufacturing spend surges 166% year-over-year,' the U.S. Department of Defense allocated approximately $797 million to additive manufacturing in fiscal year 2024 to strengthen supply chain resilience. This surge in funding highlights the military's reliance on this technology to overcome logistical bottlenecks and ensure mission readiness through decentralized manufacturing capabilities.

Market Challenges

The rigorous and extended certification process required by aviation authorities serves as a formidable constraint on the Global Aerospace and Defense Additive Manufacturing Market. Unlike traditional manufacturing methods with established qualification standards, additive manufacturing introduces unique variables, such as powder quality, layer adhesion, and thermal stresses, that demand strict and time-consuming validation to guarantee airworthiness. This regulatory complexity forces manufacturers to invest heavily in testing and data generation before flight-critical components can be commercialized, significantly extending development timelines and inflating production costs.

Consequently, this regulatory bottleneck directly hampers market expansion by delaying the transition from prototyping to mass production. The industry's intense focus on this hurdle is evident in recent data highlighting the severity of compliance pressures. According to the Royal Aeronautical Society, in 2024, approximately 76.1% of surveyed aerospace professionals classified certification as a very important factor when selecting manufacturing partners, a figure that rose significantly from the previous year. This heightened scrutiny indicates that regulatory compliance remains the primary gatekeeper for market entry, causing hesitant adoption rates for safety-critical applications despite the technology's technical maturity.

Market Trends

The advancement of In-Space Manufacturing and Satellite Component Fabrication is shifting production from Earth to orbit to overcome the logistical limitations of space missions. This trend addresses high launch costs by enabling the on-demand fabrication of tools and spare parts directly in zero-gravity environments, effectively reducing payload mass and extending mission lifespans through autonomous repair capabilities. Highlighting this breakthrough, NASA's December 2025 report, '25 Years of Space Station Technology Driving Exploration,' noted that a device supplied by the European Space Agency produced the station's first metal 3D-printed part in August 2024, validating the viability of creating functional, stress-resistant components in low Earth orbit.

Simultaneously, the adoption of Large-Format Metal Additive Manufacturing Technologies, particularly cold spray systems, is revolutionizing the repair and fabrication of expansive aerospace structures. Unlike size-limited powder bed fusion, these systems utilize kinetic energy to deposit metal powders at high velocities, achieving near-wrought properties suitable for airframe restoration and large component production. This method significantly lowers lead times for critical maintenance and allows for the rapid reclamation of high-value parts. As illustrated in the July 2025 3D Printing Industry article 'Impact Innovations Installs 100+ Cold Spray Systems Across 30+ Countries,' the manufacturer delivered eight new EvoCSII units in the second quarter of 2025 alone, underscoring the growing reliance on these systems for heavy-industry aerospace applications.

Key Players Profiled in the Aerospace And Defense Additive Manufacturing Market

• 3D Systems Corporation
• Desktop Metal, Inc.
• EOS GmbH
• General Electric Company
• Optomec, Inc.
• Prodways Printers SAS
• Renishaw PLC
• Nikon SLM Solutions AG
• RTX Corporation
• Stratasys Ltd.

Report Scope

In this report, the Global Aerospace And Defense Additive Manufacturing Market has been segmented into the following categories:

Aerospace And Defense Additive Manufacturing Market, by Application:

• Structural
• Engine
• Others

Aerospace And Defense Additive Manufacturing Market, by Platform:

• Spacecraft
• Aircraft
• Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Aerospace And Defense Additive Manufacturing Market, by Technology:

• Laser Sintering
• 3D Printing
• Electron Beam Melting
• Fused Deposition Modeling
• Stereo Lithography

Aerospace And Defense Additive Manufacturing Market, by Region:

• North America
• Europe
• Asia-Pacific
• South America
• Middle East & Africa

Competitive Landscape

Company Profiles: Detailed analysis of the major companies present in the Global Aerospace And Defense Additive Manufacturing Market.

Available Customization

The analyst offers customization according to your specific needs. The following customization options are available for the report:

• Detailed analysis and profiling of additional market players (up to five).

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