Nikon Corp is fielding interest from defence and aerospace companies in the US for its metal 3D printers, according to the Japanese precision equipment maker’s president.

“We are betting on many things...we are trying to expand the customer base,” Muneaki Tokunari, who is also Nikon's chief financial officer, said on Bloomberg TV on Wednesday. One foray is in digital manufacturing, he said. “Many in the defence and aerospace industry in the US show interest.”

More Japanese companies are expanding into military-use products, as the country boosts defence spending. Nikon, which is known for its cameras and chipmaking lithography equipment, last year set up shop in California after its acquisition of Germany’s 3D-printing specialist SLM Solutions Group. Last month, subsidiary Nikon Advanced Manufacturing Inc appointed Mike Mullen - a former US chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff - as a strategic adviser.

Nikon has also signed an agreement to jointly develop a handheld camera for Nasa for use on the moon’s south pole.

Earlier this year, London-based activist investor Silchester International Investors said it had taken a 5% stake in the Japanese camera maker, and that it may ask for dividend increases, share buy-backs or other changes to capital policy. The move pushed Nikon’s shares up by the most in more than a decade.

“One of my assignments is to ask patience of investors, while tackling my colleagues to please rush to make the products faster than the plan,” 64-year-old Tokunari said.

Nikon’s ceded the cutting-edge lithography market to the Netherlands’ ASML Holding NV, but Nikon and Canon Inc have both benefited from a surge in demand for so-called legacy tools to make simpler semiconductors, such as those used widely in cars and appliances.

  - Bloomberg