Only 3D printing can get the Navy’s submarine plan back on track, admiral says
U.S. cannot build and support the subs it needs “without going to additive manufacturing.”
LAUREN C. WILLIAMS | OCTOBER 26, 2023
NAVY TECHNOLOGY
The U.S. Navy must 3D-print more parts if it is to build three submarines per year, a top program manager said Wednesday.
Rear Adm. Jonathan Rucker, the Navy’s lead buyer for attack submarines, said additive manufacturing has become essential for meeting construction schedules—and then keeping those new subs operating.
“Absolutely we need to have additive manufacturing,” Rucker told lawmakers during a House Armed Services Subcommittee hearing. “If you look across components on the ships—forgings, castings, fittings, valves, fasteners—we cannot meet the demand to be able to support building the submarines we need, as well as supporting sustainment, without going to additive manufacturing.”
The first 3D-printed parts are already starting to be installed, said Rucker, who led the Navy’s Columbia-class ballistic-missile submarine program before taking his current job last year.
https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2023/10/only-3d-printing-can-get-navys-submarine-plan-back-track-admiral-says/391556/
