ALFED has launched its Defence Report, Sovereign Aluminium for UK Defence: Capability, Resilience and Readiness, to turn a clear policy signal into practical, site-level action. Coming out of DSEI 2025 and ahead of the updated UK Critical Minerals Strategy, where aluminium is expected to be recognised as both a Growth and a Critical mineral, the timing could not be better. Defence programmes are asking for modularity, pace and resilience; aluminium already enables these outcomes across air, sea, land and C4ISR. The question is how to deliver assured, domestic pathways that meet programme timelines with predictable quality and cost.
The report sets out a focused plan. First, bankable energy at site level so plants can commit to upgrades with confidence. Second, a Defence Aluminium Capability Audit to map actual UK capacity and address priority gaps in extrusions, castings, heat-treat and coatings, including legacy grades vital to in-service platforms. Third, investment in circular capacity, re-melting, sorting and de-coating, underpinned by simple, digital data standards that reward provenance and quality and help keep more high-grade scrap in the UK while sustaining efficient European loops where producers rely on them. Finally, procurement signals that recognise resilience and, where appropriate, low-carbon and recycled content, crowding-in private capital while improving readiness.
The strategic context is compelling. Aluminium’s properties – lightweight strength, corrosion resistance, formability and recyclability – translate into real-world gains in payload, endurance, manoeuvrability and through-life affordability for platforms and infrastructure. International evidence from naval programmes, for example, points to materially lower maintenance and CO₂ versus conventional builds for specific vessel classes. UK capability already contributes: the country’s last aluminium plate mill at Kitts Green produces a range of defence-relevant alloys, including aluminium-lithium plate, with high recycled content in typical years.
There are, however, material risks to address. Defence analysis ranks aluminium as “very high risk (HH)” because it is used across multiple domains and faces a high likelihood of supply disruption; primary production is concentrated, and UK industrial electricity prices remain significantly above those of key European peers. Meanwhile, the UK exported around 612,000 tonnes of aluminium scrap in 2024, likely including strategic grades. These are not abstract statistics, they are signals to move quickly on energy competitiveness, capability upgrades and circular feedstocks.
For ALFED, delivery starts with collaboration. “Recognition is the start line; building real, onshore capability is the finish line,” says Nadine Bloxsome, CEO of ALFED. “If we align bankable energy, targeted upgrades and a practical circular system, we can shorten lead times, lift assurance and lower embedded carbon, without compromising performance.”
Skills underpin the whole plan. Rachel Wiffen, ALFED’s Industry and Skills Development Manager, notes: “Capability is people as much as plant. Alongside upgrades in manufacturing, we need a clear skills pathway so technicians and engineers can solve upcoming challenges at pace. ALFED’s Aluminium Allies network and skills mission gives us the foundation to do exactly that, bringing talent into roles in all sectors, including defence.”
ALFED will work with government, primes, Tier-1s and SMEs, using the UK Aluminium Alliance to coordinate delivery. Members are invited to engage proactively: share data for the Capability Audit, participate in circular feedstock pilots, and feed programme requirements, grade specifications, qualification needs and lead-time priorities, into the workstreams so investment flows to the right places at the right time. The aim is straightforward: convert policy signals into investable reality, strengthen national security, support high-value jobs and underpin growth in defence, aerospace, energy, transport and construction.
To download the report, please click here.
To get involved, please contact the ALFED Team at 0333 240 9735 or alfed@alfed.org.uk.
