Update on Assessment of AM for Weapons and Armaments

Update on Assessment of AM for Weapons and Armaments
(Authors – D. Quijano, J. Mercurio, K. Blecker, J. Zunino)

To preserve the Army’s competitive advantage in manufacturing technologies and ensure our Warfighters continue to operate and succeed, new and emerging materials & technologies need to be assessed, enhanced, and integrated to modernize current and future weapon and Armaments. The US Army and its strategic partners must continue to develop agile manufacturing capabilities at the Strategic, Operational, and Tactical Domains. US Army DEVCOM is leading a project to assess the utility of commercial AM materials and equipment for Weapons and Armaments systems. The team builds off of previous Army, Navy, and other strategic partnerships and projects to assess and demonstrate the advantages achievable via Additive Manufacturing.

The objective of the project is transitioning technologies and knowledge for JPEO Armaments & Ammunition, PEO Soldier, and the Army/Joint Organic Industrial Base. Results, lessons learned, and the path forward from the Army’s “AM for Weapons and Armaments Project,” will be presented.

Highlighted areas include:
(1) Alignment with Army Future Command’s Advanced Manufacturing Strategy by partnering with industry’s leading AM Equipment and Material providers (Stratasys)
(2) Integration of AM capabilities that enable a highly connected & collaborative enterprise for OIB Modernization, as well as Point of Need fabrication using COTS solutions
(3) Assessment OF Stratasys’ “Data Security Platform” with Army-Navy interoperability
(4) Voice of the Customer – Assessment of designs and 3D printed parts and components provided by Warfighters
(5) Sustainment Support – What types of parts can be repaired, rebuilt, or created through AM tooling at the Point of Need
(6) Test results of polymer AM parts fabricated and tested in extreme cold operating environments for potential operational usage on Armaments and Soldier systems.