IperionX receives PO for US Army heavy ground combat systems

IperionX Limited has received a $0.3 million prototype purchase order from American Rheinmetall to produce 700 lightweight titanium components for U.S. Army heavy ground combat systems. This initial purchase order has the potential to lead to a significantly larger agreement upon successful delivery of this initial scope of work.

The components will be manufactured in the United States using 100% recycled titanium feedstock, produced through IperionX’s patented Hydrogen Assisted Metallothermic Reduction (HAMR and Hydrogen Sintering and Phase Transformation (HSPT) technologies. These technologies enable the domestic production of high-performance titanium components at materially lower cost relative to conventional titanium production routes.

Replacing steel components with titanium is expected to deliver measurable operational benefits, including a weight reduction of approximately 40–45% per component, translating to a reduction of several hundred kilograms per vehicle depending on final configuration.

Lightweighting is an increasingly critical design consideration for U.S. Army heavy ground combat platforms as the vehicles continues to gain mass through successive survivability and lethality upgrades, including enhanced armor systems and emerging counter-UAS and drone-protection solutions.

Specific benefits also include improved performance through reduced weight, enabling faster acceleration and better agility, increased operational range and survivability, and reduced ground pressure improving traction and flotation on soft or uneven terrain.

IperionX is the only domestic U.S. producer of commercial-scale primary titanium metal, a material that is designated as strategic and critical by the U.S. government. Historically, the U.S. has relied heavily on foreign-sourced titanium sponge and upstream processing, creating vulnerabilities within defense and aerospace supply chains.

This purchase order directly supports U.S. government priorities to reshore and secure critical materials supply chains, reduce reliance on foreign titanium sources, and expand domestic manufacturing capacity using recycled feedstocks.

“This purchase order demonstrates the practical application of IperionX’s recycled titanium technologies on important U.S. ground combat platforms,” says IperionX CEO Taso Arima. “As the only domestic producer of commercial primary titanium, IperionX is uniquely positioned to support domestic defense priorities with secure, low-carbon, and cost-competitive titanium products manufactured entirely in the United States.”