Quick Summary
• The US Army’s additive manufacturing (AM) capabilities have taken some time to catch up to those of the Air Force and Navy, but the catch-up phase now seems to be...
Additional Context
The US Army’s additive manufacturing (AM) capabilities have taken some time to catch up to those of the Air Force and Navy, but the catch-up phase now seems to be in full acceleration mode. We saw that at the beginning of February when Velo3D announced it was the first qualified AM vendor for the Army’s Ground Vehicles Systems Center (GVSC). Further evidence of the Army’s progress just surfaced in the form of a new SPEE3D case study that was executed with the Tennessee Army National Guard, the University of Tennessee (UT), and the Army Research Laboratory (ARL).
As with the Velo3D deal, the SPEE3D case study involves Army ground vehicles: specifically, mine-resistant ambush protected (MRAP) vehicles, which are designed to withstand munitions including improvised explosive devices (IEDs).