Aurora will locate the AFP equipment at its Columbus, Mississippi, USA, manufacturing facility.

After an evaluation of potential suppliers, Aurora selected Electroimpact of Mukilteo, Washington, to develop a state-of-the-art AFP machine for delivery in 2012. Electroimpact, a supplier of automation equipment to the worldwide aerospace industry, has pioneered the development of modular, detachable AFP heads which permit flexibility in the manufacturing process.

Aurora Flight Sciences, headquartered in Manassas, Virginia, USA, designs and builds robotic aircraft and other advanced aerospace vehicles for scientific and military applications. It plans to utilise the AFP machine in manufacturing programmes with its key customers, including the US government, Sikorsky Aircraft, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, and Gulfstream.

Aurora expects to achieve significant advances in the size and complexity of the high-quality composite structures it can build using the Electroimpact AFP technology.