Despite the modern advancements in America’s national defense, the military still relies heavily on decades-old equipment. The B-52 Stratofortress, the CH-47 Chinook and the M-61 Vulcan are all still in service because they remain effective. However, maintaining such old equipment presents challenges, as parts that were once easy to obtain are now scarce or no longer produced.
Part of the solution could lie in additive manufacturing, a process the military is rapidly adopting. To the casual observer, additive manufacturing might look similar to 3D printing, but the scale is vastly different. While 3D printing might produce a chess piece at home, additive manufacturing can create a ball valve for a Navy vessel.
Andy Pfister, the vice president of aftermarket and product development at Fairbanks Morse Defense, explained that using traditional methods to obtain the same part could take six to 36 months.
“The big innovation with that, I can get that in six weeks,” Pfister said. “I’m going to get it in six weeks every single time. If I need it faster, I can even get it faster, and I know what I’m getting is good. This efficiency allows for better scheduling and increased manufacturing efficiency.”
The efficiency of additive manufacturing is gaining support from those involved in getting boats in the water or aircraft back in the sky. Pfister noted that while valves might not drive the price of a boat, their timely delivery is crucial for ship schedules and Navy deliveries.
“Anything we can do to get our customers in the warfighter what they need, when they need it, is really going to help the supplier industrial race deliver on what the Navy needs,” Pfister said.
Each branch of the Department of Defense (DOD) is finding ways to take the process out of the factory and into the field. For the Marine Corps, this means turning additive manufacturing into expeditionary manufacturing, bringing the process to where it’s needed most.
The USMC has created Expeditionary Manufacturing units, enabling the units to meet the needs of the Marines in the field where they’re operating.
The Army also embraced the process, producing the largest U.S. civil works component ever made by additive manufacturing. The Poe Lock ship arrestor, used to stop a 100,000-ton vessel, was completed in 12 weeks instead of the 18 months conventional manufacturing would have taken. This allowed the Soo Locks between the Great Lakes border of the U.S. and Canada to reopen in March 2024.
After Hurricane Michael damaged large parts of the Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida in 2018, the Air Force turned to additive manufacturing to help rebuild. In 2023, this included a printed facility for robotics research, the first of its kind on an Air Force base worldwide. Air Force leaders noted that the building meets both military building codes and Miami-Dade wind code standards.
The additive manufacturing industry was valued at $14.5 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach over $69 billion by 2030, according to Vantage Market Research.
The DOD’s challenge now is widespread implementation, building the infrastructure to shorten supply chains and keeping American troops ahead of their near-peer adversaries.
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