Friction Stir Welding is being developed at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Advanced Materials Processing Center in cooperation with the Army Research Laboratory, the Edison Welding Institute, and a number of industrial sponsors. Specific attention is being paid to complex curvature and built up structures using rapid reconfigurable and flexible tooling. Friction Stir Spot Welding (FSSW) of aluminum alloys is concurrently being developed as a rivet replacement technology. Examples of these FSW and FSSW technology advances and application to specific hardware development programs will be presented.