ASTRO America Leads $9M AFRL CRADA to Advance 3D Printed Missile Production

The Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) model for establishing private-public partnerships has started to gain traction in the additive manufacturing (AM) industry over the last couple of years. In a recent example, 3D Systems and Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) announced a CRADA surrounding AM for nuclear applications. CRADAs enable the government and companies to share resources, IP, staff, etc., and provide an opportunity for the companies involved to file patents based on the results of the R&D work.

Now, Applied Science and Technology Organization (ASTRO) America, the nonprofit primarily responsible for managing the activities associated with the AM Forward compact, has established a CRADA with the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), backed with nearly $9 mill