NP Aerospace Produces Mastiff Suspension Carrier via WAAM, Cutting Lead Times by 50%

• NP Aerospace, working with the Digital Manufacturing Centre (DMC), has used Caracol‘s Vipra AM platform to produce the Mastiff suspension and differential carrier, a structurally critical, load-bearing component for protected and dual-use vehicles, through wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM). Printed as a single piece without tooling in 60 hours, the component marks a direct challenge…

NP Aerospace, working with the Digital Manufacturing Centre (DMC), has used Caracol‘s Vipra AM platform to produce the Mastiff suspension and differential carrier, a structurally critical, load-bearing component for protected and dual-use vehicles, through wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM). Printed as a single piece without tooling in 60 hours, the component marks a direct challenge to the casting and forging routes that have historically defined this class of manufacturing. Those conventional methods work, but on low-volume, fast-iteration defense programs, their constraints compound quickly. Long lead times tied to tooling qualification, high upfront costs difficult to justify at small quantities, and geometric rigidity that limits topology-driven design all slow down programs wher