AML3D and Blue Forge Alliance Enter Manufacturing License Agreement for 3D Printed US Navy Parts

AML3D, the Australian original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of the ARCEMY wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) system, has announced a Manufacturing License Agreement (MLA) with Blue Forge Alliance (BFA), a neutral technology integrator focused on reshoring for the US Submarine Industrial Base (SIB). Via the deal, BFA can now provide technical assistance and data to AML3D  concerning parts for US Navy submarines.

Additionally, the deal enables AML3D to exchange data and technical assistance with other suppliers to the US Navy submarines program. In combination, both aspects of the MLA should open up a much greater field of opportunity for AML3D when it comes to working with DoD, a task the Australian company has already been making great strides at for a couple years now.

In a press release, the CEO of AML3D, Sean Ebert, said, “We are looking forward to working with Blue Forge Alliance, the technical teams within the US Navy’s Submarine Industrial Base and amongst the US Navy’s wider supplier network to access the technical knowledge and data needed to 3D-print, test and validate metal parts and components for US Navy submarines. …Today’s MLA agreement creates many opportunities to develop and deepen relationships that have the potential to further accelerate our US scale up strategy.”

AML3D has seen a surge in revenue growth in the last year, amidst the DoD’s global search for emerging, agile partners in the advanced manufacturing space. BFA is itself an exponent of this same dynamic, serving as a unique intermediary that makes it easier for DoD and up-and-coming enterprises to connect.

This latest collaboration between frequent partners AML3D and BFA may, in part, be the result of recently changed rules to the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR) and Export Administration Regulations (EAR), a major feature of Pillar II of the Australia-UK-US trilateral partnership. The changes did away with license requirements for over 70 percent of ITAR exports and over 80 percent of EAR exports between the US and Australia.

Companies like AML3D may also see new opportunities soon from heightened collaboration between the AUKUS nations surrounding response to telecommunications sector supply chain threats. Uniquely, players aiming to create distributed manufacturing networks that connect the AUKUS partners have a twofold relevance to telecommunications security: first, as manufacturers of components that can help bolster the supply chain autonomy for AUKUS telecommunications networks, and second, as key nodes that will need to leverage those telecommunications networks.

In other words, at this point, all telecommunications infrastructure connecting Australia, the UK, and the US will need to be optimized for facilitating shared manufacturing activity between the three nations. Thus, any pilot program involving the three nations’ protection of that infrastructure would do well to determine any potential use cases that can benefit from AM-backed distributed manufacturing.