Taking place from 16 to 20 March at Albacete Air Base in Spain, AM Village 2026 will bring together Armed Forces, industry, research and academia in an intensive, hands-on workshop dedicated to additive manufacturing (AM) in a military context.
Structured around briefings, seminars and practical exchanges, the event provides a collaborative environment to discuss military requirements, explore industrial solutions, and promote cooperation that supports the effective implementation of AM in defence.

EWF will be present at AM Village 2026 through two European projects - AILEEN and DILAPRO and through IAMQS, the International Additive Manufacturing Qualification System managed by EWF. This contribution reflects EWF’s approach of connecting skills, qualifications and quality assurance to real deployment needs, reinforcing trustworthy pathways for AM adoption in Aerospace & Defence.  

Through IAMQS and AILEEN project, EWF will promote two workshops within the event: one targeting military personnel, providing foundations on AM and its operational framing, and a second ‘train-the-trainer’ action to equip instructors to replicate and sustain future training. This supports harmonised competence development and helps to build confidence in how AM is applied in demanding environments.

AILEEN’s participation is also rooted in the project’s mission to strengthen advanced manufacturing skills for the Aerospace & Defence sectors, through cooperation between education providers, industry and research. AM Village offers a relevant platform to reinforce these partnerships, connect stakeholders and align training excellence with qualification routes, including the additive manufacturing dimension supported by EWF and IAMQS.

Through DILAPRO, EWF will contribute to AM Village with a joint workshop, highlighting how digital manufacturing and intelligent certification approaches can reinforce the reliability of on-site metal AM in defence and industry. The session will address key quality challenges in the production and repair of spare parts, discuss relevant standards and qualification topics, and show how digital factory environments can be connected to certification tools to support traceability and confidence.

For Armed Forces, AM Village is strategically relevant because it brings together military requirements, industrial solutions and competence development around priorities such as logistics, maintenance and resilience. For the wider Aerospace & Defence ecosystem, it provides a focused setting to align operational needs with industrial capability and qualification and quality assurance expectations, supporting a more confident and consistent uptake of AM.