The US Navy has selected SPEE3D to take part in its MaintenX exercise to manufacture deployable metal 3D printing technology at both port and sea.
The Navy’s goal is to validate metal 3D printing technology to reduce and eliminate supply chain issues and address maintenance operations to improve ship material conditions and battle damage repair.
The MaintenX trial will be conducted as part of the US Navy’s ANTX-Coastal Trident 2022 at the Ventura County Naval Base August 22 – September 2, 2022.
SPEE3D’s metal cold spray 3D printing process is 100 to 1000 times faster than traditional 3D metal printing, enabling an affordable metal additive manufacturing process to produce industrial quality metal parts in minutes, from anywhere. The process harnesses the power of kinetic energy rather than relying on high-power lasers and expensive gases.
For the MaintenX program, SPEE3D will utilize its WarpSPEE3D, which it claims is the world’s first large-format metal 3D printer to use patented SPEE3D technology. WarpSPEE3D can print large parts or multiple parts at once, up to 1000mm x 700mm / 40 x 30” in diameter, and up to 40kg / 100lb.
SPEE3D has collaborated with the US defense as the inaugural winner of the Defense Strategies Institute’s Award for Expeditionary and Tactical 3D Printing Excellence in recognition of the technology’s outstanding achievements in 3D printing in support of Department of Defense mission priorities.
“We are thrilled to collaborate with the US Naval Warfare Centers to test and validate our unique metal 3D printing capability that is used from anywhere – not just a lab – and to quickly print large scale parts that would otherwise take weeks or even months to manufacture,” said Byron Kennedy, CEO of SPEE3D. “We understand their operational challenges both on land and sea, and look forward to strengthening our existing relationships with the US Department of Defense as a trusted partner.”
MaintenX aims to accelerate the identification and implementation of leading-edge capabilities by the US Navy and its partners in port and maritime security. The program consists of technical demonstrations, field experiments, and exercises to help solve fleet expeditionary maintenance and battle-related support requirements. MaintenX gives technologists an understanding of operational challenges faced by the warfighter – and the warfighter an understanding of developing technologies to meet their needs. Solutions will be demonstrated in a one-on-one setting onboard the Navy’s Self Defense Test Ship (SDTS), currently based at Port Hueneme, CA.
