navy

UK Ministry of Defence Buys Two Metal 3D Printers for Royal Navy MRO

The UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) has purchased two metal 3D printers from UK supplier Additive X, in a contract valued at £383,000 (~$483,000). The Royal Navy will use the…

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ASTRO America Announces Details of Next Steps in 3D Printing Plan for Guam

For over two years, the Applied Science and Technology Organization (ASTRO) America has been working with the government of Guam to build up additive manufacturing (AM) capacity on the Pacific…

3D Printing News Unpeeled: BMF Raises $24m, More Shipboard 3D Printing for the Navy

Us based 3D printer OEM BMF (Boston Micro Fabrication) which makes micro 3D printers, raised $24 million in a Series D round led by China’s Guotai Junan Securities. Also participating…

The Art of 3D Printed War: Interview with Navy Engineer Scott Ziv

During one of the breaks at the Additive Manufacturing Users Group (AMUG) Conference 2023 (March 19-23), I stumbled across five or so people who I noticed had “NSWC – Carderock”…

Parts 3D Printed on US Naval Ship Signals Sea Change in Military Supply Chain

Correction 9/9/22: This article previously stated that SPEE3D was the first to 3D print parts aboard a naval vessel. We have recently learned that Xerox successfully 3D printed metal parts…

3D Printing News Unpeeled: Dutch Navy, Wrap, Nanoe, Caracol, Fergal Coulter, NASA

Today we’re looking at the Onulis Wrap machine that combines resin hardening with post curing, Nanoe and the Royal Netherlands Navy work together to print bound metal and bound ceramic…

3D Printing Drone Swarms, Part 15: the Always On Navy

As we discuss in our ongoing 3D Printing Drone Swarms series, additive manufacturing (AM) will play an increasing role in the production of all manner of semi-sentient robots. This has been…

3D Printing Drone Swarms, Part 14: 3D Printed Wolf Packs

As we discuss in our ongoing 3D Printing Drone Swarms series, additive manufacturing (AM) will play an increasing role in the production of all manner of semi-sentient robots. This has been…

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U.S. Navy Submarines to Have 3D Printed Parts Starting This Year

At the beginning of last month, the U.S. Navy announced it was awarding six contracts to defense firms and research institutions, to study applications of additive manufacturing (AM) that could…

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US Navy Issues $20M to Stratasys to Purchase Large-Format 3D Printers

The U.S. Navy has been steadily increasing its investment into practical 3D printer usage, as opposed to research. The latest comes in the form of a whopping $20 million contract…

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MELD Awarded $1.5M for Metal 3D Printing Repairs for the US Navy

It was a big day at MELD when the firm obtained $1.5 million from the U.S. Navy for maintenance and repair operations (MRO). MELD 3D printing is similar to a…

US Navy Studies 3D Printed Antennas for New Radar Applications

As Executive Editor Joris Peels recently pointed out, antennas are one of those killer apps for which 3D printing is perfect. With the ability to create unique geometries capable of…

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Xerox Unveils ElemX Metal 3D Printer, Collaborates with US Navy

After purchasing Vader Systems in 2019, we’ve long been awaiting news of when Xerox (NYSE: XRX) would begin commercializing the startup’s liquid metal 3D printing technology. After hinting at it…

Should We Begin Preparing for 3D Printed Nuclear Weapons?

The large NC3 (Nuclear Command, Control & Communications) architecture, comprised of systems made up of many airborne, space-based, and terrestrial components meant to connect nuclear forces in the US to the…

3D Printing Keeps Navy Ships Up and Running for Minimal Cost

3D printing has become a bigger part of life in the United States Navy, and indeed in all branches of the military, as servicepeople come up with ingenious ways to use…

3D Printing Valued by the Navy for Underway Replenishment

Underway replenishment, also known as replenishment at sea (RAS) is a method of transferring supplies from one ship to another while a naval mission is underway. In a paper entitled…

Consulting Firm Uses 3D Printer to Make Explosives for US Navy

Naseem Jibrin, Benjamin and Brandon Ennis, and Michael Winn are trying to work out how to create explosives using a commercially available HP 3D printer. But don’t call the FBI,…

Senvol Developing Additive Manufacturing Software for Office of Naval Research

Senvol is known for helping companies to implement additive manufacturing through its virtual resources: the Senvol Indexes, the Senvol API and the Senvol Database. Now it is working to develop…

SSC Atlantic Uses 3D Printing for a Little Bit of Everything

3D printing has become a strong presence within the US military, particularly in the Navy, where 3D printers are being used aboard ships. The Navy has 3D printed everything from…

UConn Engineers Develop Ceramic and Metal 3D Printing Solution for US Navy to Manufacture Replacement Parts At Sea

The US Navy is a big proponent of additive manufacturing technology, and its use of 3D printers on ships offers self-sustainability in remote areas, allowing sailors and officers to make…

Working with Artec to 3D Scan the Entire Dutch Navy

I love a good meticulous project. I once went through forty years of an academic journal creating a database of all of the references for the articles as well as…

University of Pittsburgh Receives Office of Naval Research Award to Develop Steel 3D Printing Materials

Metal additive manufacturing may be growing, but the number of metals and alloys that can be 3D printed with is still fairly limited. One material that isn’t seen frequently in…

3D Printing in the Military

3D printing has many military applications. Militaries around the world have been working on developing 3D printing technologies, using 3D printing for prototypes, developing their own fablabs and using the…

Preserving the Seabee Memorial with 3D Scanning

The Seabees are members of the Naval Construction Forces. The term comes from the initials for Construction Battalion (CB) and has as its mascot the cutest builder bee you could…