The U.S. Navy is set expected to take delivery of eight Stratasys 3D printers by the end of this year as part of a 20 million USD contract that will see up to 25 Stratasys F900 systems installed over the next five years, in addition to the materials, support and training needed to run them.
The deal follows a report issued by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) earlier this year in which the department outlined its additive manufacturing strategy and the role the technology could potentially play in shifting to a digital manufacturing system to modernise national defense systems, increase materiel readiness, and enhance warfighting innovation and capability. According to Mark Menninger, director of Stratasys’ U.S. Government business division, the move could serve to shorten U.S. Military supply chains, while providing its Navy with enhanced aircraft repair capabilities.
“The benefits of AM for military organizations like the U.S. Navy include cost-effectively extending the life of strategic and tactical assets like aircraft while ensuring sustainment activities can happen quickly and from virtually anywhere – said Menninger -. This contract, the largest government project for Stratasys to-date, continues to expand the presence of industrial 3D printing from Stratasys across the U.S. government”.
The 3D printers will be installed on bases in the U.S. and Japan and are intended to be used for the production of tools, training aids, end-use parts and support a wider goal for the Navy to move to a distributed manufacturing setup to maintain its fleet of aircraft across the globe.
Since their launch in 2018, Stratasys’ F900 FDM systems have been adopted by a number of industrial users, primarily in the aerospace sector, where customers like Boom Supersonic, BAE Systems and Airbus have deployed the technology for prototypes, tools and interior polymer parts.