On October 26, 2026, Rosebank Engineering announced it is leading a two-year industry research project, supported by the Additive Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre (AMCRC), together with the RMIT Centre for Additive Manufacturing and Swinburne University of Technology, to develop a certifiable laser directed energy deposition (L-DED) repair process for high-value military aircraft components, replacing long-lead international supply chain procurement with domestic repairs. The project targets precipitation-hardened materials widely used in defense aviation—Inconel, titanium alloys, and 15-5PH stainless steel—with the goal of demonstrating repairs on advanced military aircraft components in accordance with OEM and NASA-STD-6030 requirements. The core process is laser rescanning, which uses localized heat input to control microstructure and achieve aviation-grade material properties without post-weld heat treatment. Rosebank is integrating its proprietary AMCLAD adaptive monitoring system for laser additive deposition to ensure process consistency and repeatability; Professor Milan Brandt's team at RMIT is responsible for laser process optimization and generating data packages on tensile, fatigue, residual stress, corrosion, and wear properties, while Professor Suresh Palanisamy's team at Swinburne is handling materials characterization and mechanical testing. The project will also explore repair pathways for F/A-18 engine components as a near-term commercialization entry point. This initiative moves L-DED from "can repair" to "can repair certifiably," directly affecting aerospace maintenance demand for metal powders and wire: once repair processes enter military aircraft MRO systems, material batch consistency and performance data packages will become entry barriers for powder suppliers rather than price competition alone. Value to powder buyers: ① Scaling of military aircraft L-DED repairs will expand the aerospace maintenance market for Inconel, 15-5PH, and titanium alloy powders and wire; ② Certification-grade repairs impose higher requirements on powder batch consistency, inclusions, and oxygen content, creating clear opportunities for powder suppliers with AS9100/NADCAP qualifications; ③ Watch for incremental metal powder procurement driven by localization of Australia's defense MRO supply chain.