Electroninks plans Air Force expo demo of desktop PCB foundry

Electroninks will show its CircuitJet IV desktop printed circuit board assembly system at the Air Force Innovation Expo in Tucson on Oct. 26-27. The demo is aimed at military sustainment teams looking for faster, on-demand board production in austere and mission-critical settings.

Why it matters: - CircuitJet IV is designed to compress printed circuit board production from weeks to about two hours, which could reduce downtime for maintenance and sustainment teams. - Electroninks is targeting Air Force decision-makers who may need rapid, local manufacturing for austere environments and mission-critical repairs. - The platform keeps design files on-site and does not require internet access or a cloud account, which may matter for sensitive defense workflows.

What happened: - Electroninks announced it will exhibit at the Air Force Innovation Expo 2026 on Oct. 26-27 at the Tucson Convention Center in Tucson, Arizona. - The expo is co-located with the 2026 ARC WEPTAC/DCP Conference. - Electroninks will be at booth #1215. - The company will showcase CircuitJet IV, its desktop printed circuit board assembly foundry. - Dr. Michael Bell, Dr. Cedric P. Ambulo and Avery Gerber will represent Electroninks at the event. - The team will demonstrate the platform and discuss how on-demand circuit board production can support sustainment and rapid-response needs.

The details: - CircuitJet IV takes standard copper-clad FR4 and produces a populated, inspected two-layer circuit board in about two hours in a single machine. - The system uses Electroninks’ bath-free, inkjet-dispensed via-plating chemistry. - Electroninks says the approach eliminates chemical tanks and outsourced steps that have limited desktop board fabrication. - The platform includes a galvo-scanned laser for etching, drilling, routing and cutting slots. - The platform includes a multi-head inkjet system for via plating, solder mask, legend and surface finish. - The platform includes stencil-free solder paste deposition and pick-and-place for 0402 passives and standard SMT ICs. - The platform includes automated optical inspection with top and bottom vision. - The platform includes HEPA filtration that allows operation in an office environment with no special ventilation. - CircuitBuild software accepts open-standard Gerber and ODB++ files. - CircuitBuild automatically panelizes jobs and validates them against the machine’s capabilities before production begins. - CircuitBuild runs locally with no internet connection or cloud account required. - CircuitJet IV supports a 9-by-12-inch build area. - CircuitJet IV supports trace widths down to 100 microns and spacing down to 50 microns. - First production units are expected to ship by the end of 2026. - Electroninks says CircuitJet IV was developed under the U.S. Air Force Rapid Sustainment Office’s Phase II Small Business Innovation Research program. - The SBIR program aims to deliver on-demand printed circuit manufacturing to austere environments. - The company’s website for CircuitJet IV is More information. - More about Electroninks is available at Electroninks.

Between the lines: - The expo appearance puts Electroninks in front of defense buyers at a time when the military is prioritizing faster repair cycles and more resilient supply chains. - CircuitJet IV blends desktop automation with manufacturing steps that usually require multiple tools and outside vendors. - The local-only software workflow suggests a pitch aimed at secure or disconnected environments, not just speed.

What's next: - Electroninks plans to demo the system at AIX 2026 and talk with attendees about sustainment use cases. - The company expects initial production units to begin shipping by the end of 2026. - The waitlist for CircuitJet IV is open through the company’s website.

The bottom line: - Electroninks is using the Air Force expo to position CircuitJet IV as a compact, secure and fast answer to military PCB shortages.