Impressive applications of additive manufacturing in defense

I’ve been pretty impressed with the number of application of additive manufacturing in defense. Here are 20 cool things going on from a mostly organic capability, not to mention industry:

1. An F-35 landing gear door bump stock was produced with AM for $0.75, creating a cost avoidance of $70,000 to repair whole assembly
2. The 3rd Marine Logistics Group used a 3D metal printer in the Indo-Pacific and improved labor efficiency by 4-fold.
3. The Air Force 3D printed dozens of parts to extend the life of aircraft like the C-5, B-52, and B-2; the F-22 first flew with 3D printed parts in 2019 with a 60 to 70-day reduction in maintenance flow time.
4. In a 12-month operational assessment, an Army AM unit produced more than 100 unique parts (more than 600 total parts) for vehicles that avoided 1,800 non-mission capable days.
5. The Columbia-class program identified 6 to 10 components for 3D printing due to consistent unavailability at public shipyards.
6. The Army is building the biggest 3D printer in the world to manufacture monolithic hulls in one piece that will cost less, weigh less, be faster to produce, and more survivable.
7. The Marine Corps 3D printed a concrete bunker capable of embedding a truck-mounted multiple rocket launcher system in 36 hours.
8. The Army simplified the design from 10 parts down to 4 parts on discontinued hatch plugs for helicopters using AM and saved $244,000.
9. The Marines plan to deploy 21 XFAB units by FY 2024 to supplement the supply chain, return equipment to the field, and reduce storage needs at the tactical edge.
10. The British Armed Forces created a technique to 3D print explosives on demand at the front line.
11. The Army 3D printed a modified M203 grenade launcher.
12. The Army used AM on the AH-64D strap pack support, saving 12.4 maintenance hours and $20,000 to replace the parts.
13. Tinker Air Force Base saved $378,000 in FY 2019 by producing AM parts to support a testing activity.
14. The Air Force used AM to produce cooling ducts for the C-17 to reduce lead time by 9 months, potentially save $12 million over the C-17’s 20-year life cycle.
15. The Marine Corps used AM to produce an H-1 helmet visor clip, reducing lead time from 270 days to 10 days and reducing costs from $300 to $0.75.
16. A Mk 8 Mod 1 SEAL Delivery Vehicle hull was printed in 1 month compared to 5 months with traditional methods at a “fraction” of the cost.
17. The Navy spends $1 million and six months to fix a bulkhead crack on older F/A-18 models, and with AM the costs were brought down to $25,000.
18. A custom AM produced oil line wrench for the MH-60R saved 80 hours per oil change.
19. The Navy used AM on a hydraulic manifold for the V-22 that reduced weight by 70 percent, lowered fabrication cost by 30 percent, and lowered labor costs by 10 percent.
20. An Army and Marine Corps team 3D printed a concrete bridge in just 14 hours.

Some of the key limitations include getting the data rights or technical data packages that are in digital format. Roughly 90% of AM’s use in DoD is enabled through reverse engineering. Data standards, common repositories, and information security are another key limitation. Qualification testing, particularly for airworthy parts but even non-safety critical parts, is another barrier.