DIU Director Doug Beck announced the Blue Manufacturing Marketplace last year as a way to overcome some of the barriers to leveraging advanced manufacturing capabilities like digital engineering, 3D printing and automation across the defense industrial base. Now, DIU is accepting proposals from vendors who have specific expertise across six areas, including automated metal machining for parts production, composite or ceramic additive manufacturing and 3D-printed tooling.

Beck told Defense News in an interview Wednesday that this is the first of many solicitations designed to help smaller firms developing cutting-edge, dual-use technology partner with advanced manufacturing firms that can help them scale their products. Rather than award contracts like it might for other programs, DIU’s role through the marketplace is to vet these manufacturing companies to make sure their supply chains are secure and provide a venue for those firms to find one another.

“It’s about creating the marketplace effectively for these folks to find those companies and encouraging them each to find one another in order to do their scaling,” Beck said.

The Pentagon over the last few years has emphasized the need for rapid production and scaling as a means both to replenish depleted weapons stocks and field low-cost systems like throw-away drones en masse. Innovative manufacturing techniques are one way to get after that challenge.

In its 2024 National Defense Industrial Strategy, the Defense Department called for greater adoption of advanced manufacturing and automation throughout the defense industrial base, identifying these technologies as a key enabler for not only increasing capacity but for making production processes more efficient.

“Many elements of the traditional [defense industrial base] have yet to adopt advanced manufacturing technologies, as they struggle to develop business cases for needed capital investment,” DOD said in its report. “This directly impacts DOD’s ability to reduce manufacturing lead times and lifecycle costs and to increase readiness.”

Beck emphasized that the Blue Manufacturing Marketplace is just one part of a broader umbrella of DOD efforts to better leverage advanced manufacturing throughout the defense industrial base. However, he said, it has the potential to be a game changer.

“Five years down the road, this might be one of the most important things that DIU helped to make happen,” Beck said.

Travis Demeester, DIU’s lead for the marketplace, told Defense News his team has spent much of the last year talking to manufacturing companies about the roadblocks they face in working with customers in the defense sector and figuring out how the new venue might address them. Many firms cited difficulty in establishing trust and verifying that their supply chains and executive boards aren’t funded by or linked to U.S. adversaries, he told Defense News in an interview. They also pointed to the lengthy vetting process that comes with integrating their capability into another company’s supply chain.

Demeester said DIU already provides vetting for companies entering the defense industrial base and is well positioned to help create a “shortcut” for onboarding manufacturing companies. In fact, the marketplace’s name is a nod to another DIU program, Blue UAS, that helps vet commercial drones for compliance with U.S. policies that restrict DOD from buying uncrewed systems or technology originating from Chinese firms.

DIU’s role in helping create a bridge between commercial firms and the complexities of DOD’s acquisition and procurement processes also means it has mechanisms in place to both onboard new capabilities and identify partnerships between firms with complementary technologies, Demeester said. In the case of the Blue Manufacturing Marketplace, that means connecting tech-focused firms with manufacturing capacity.

“The big focus of what we want to do here is make it a lot easier for companies like that to scale,” he said. “And so, by identifying these exceptional manufacturers and making them available to those companies, that’s the approach that we’re taking.”

Today’s rollout is the first of many steps toward building out the marketplace, Demeester noted. Rather than spend years on the front-end defining what it will be, DIU wants industry to inform that process in real-time.

And practically speaking, he noted, DIU doesn’t yet have the resources to fully implement its vision for what the marketplace could become. For now, Demeester’s team is small and agile and doesn’t have a formal budget allocation.

One potential future growth area is in certification and qualification of additive-manufactured parts — a need expressed by the military services as they increasingly look to non-traditional vendors to supply certain capabilities. Demeester said he also expects future solicitations to target manufacturing companies with expertise in particular technology areas, like hypersonics or autonomy or firms that are based in different geographical regions.

“This isn’t a matter of putting all of our chips into the first effort, but in terms of how we resource it, how we grow it, programmatically, etc., we’re going to keep a close eye on it and be agile about that,” Demeester said.

Aircraft are traditionally painted using a masking technique, requiring painters to use tape, film and paper to outline certain markings for a particular aircraft.

The new system being tested projects insignia and markings directly on the aircraft, providing the exact placement of objects that need painting without all the masking.

So far, the laser projection system is dramatically easier to use than the old stenciling method, according to Steven Lofy, senior materials engineer for the center’s corrosion and wear team.

“It takes an extensive amount of time and labor to mask aircraft for the application of major markings and insignia during the final finish process,” Lofy said in a statement. “It’s a demanding process based on old, paper drawings that can be difficult to read, making it challenging for our artisans to mask the exact areas on each aircraft consistently.”

It’s also saving time, he said.

“With the laser projection system, we can simply come in, turn on the projectors and actually project where each marking should be on the aircraft,” Lofy said. “All we have to do from there is line each stencil up, mask and paint.”

The readiness center first utilized the system in January on a Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey for the aircraft’s signature white, horizontal stripes — resulting in an 85 percent decrease in labor hours. While the process previously took roughly 16 hours, the projector brought that number down to two.

The center has used the laser projection system to paint four aircraft so far and plans are underway to use the system more broadly by uploading 2D stencils to the projection system’s software, according to the Navy.

Based out of Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in North Carolina, the center provides maintenance and repairs for Marine Corps aircraft — including the F-35B Lightning II. It is one of the Navy’s eight fleet readiness centers.

KNDS hopes to establish the subsidiary in Ukraine later in June, following months of talks, Chairman Philippe Petitcolin said on the sidelines of a signing ceremony in Paris attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, French Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu and KNDS France CEO Nicolas Chamussy.

“The signature marks the beginning of a new era between us and Ukraine, since we’ll have a full subsidiary of KNDS, both the German and French parts, and from there we’ll be able to cooperate with Ukrainian companies,” Petitcolin said. “We’re in discussions with a lot of companies.”

Ukraine operates 386 pieces of KNDS equipment, particularly Leopard tanks and Caesar cannons, and the company still has 250 pieces to deliver based on orders received, which translates to a requirement for “lots and lots of support” according to Petitcolin.

KNDS France CEO Chamussy signed letters of intent with Ukraine’s ENMEK to set up a maintenance center for Caesar cannons and for 3D printing of spare parts, as well as a contract with KZVV to transfer production of 155mm shells.

The maintenance center won’t require any French technicians, as Ukraine is already handling Caesar maintenance with replacement parts shipped from France, according to Chamussy. “The Ukrainians know how to do this very well,” he said.

KNDS France is currently producing one Caesar truck-mounted howitzer a week, according to Petitcolin. The company is on track with plans to lift the manufacturing pace to six per month from four, said Chamussy.

“If there’s sustained demand, we know how to step up the pace from one a week. We know how to do better, we know how to do more, but of course it all depends on the demands we get,” Petitcolin said. He said the company has concrete Caesar orders for 2024, but not yet for 2025, though “there will no doubt be some contracts” at the Eurosatory defense show that starts June 17.

KNDS France has the capacity to increase total artillery production to 12 cannons a month, according to Chamussy. In addition to the Caesar self-propelled gun, the firm also makes the 105mm LG1 towed artillery piece.

KNDS plans to start ammunition manufacture with its local Ukrainian partner within 12 months, according to Petitcolin. In a next step, the company could start manufacturing system modules or even entire systems in Ukraine, the chairman said.

French Armed Forces Minister Lecornu commented on plans to transfer Mirage 2000-5 jets to Ukraine, saying the aircraft in question are in service with the French Air Force right now, including for NATO air-policing missions in Estonia and Romania. The aircraft are gradually being withdrawn from service through 2030 to be replaced by the Rafale.

“So we’re talking about fighter jets that are fully operational,” Lecornu said. He declined to say how many aircraft France will transfer, or which countries might join in a Mirage coalition.

Lecornu said the urgency is to start training Ukrainian pilots on the Mirage 2000. He said France has been training pilots on the French-German Alpha Jet for several months, but the Mirage “is a different category.” French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that training normally takes five to six months, meaning Ukrainian pilots could be able to fly the Mirage 2000-5s by the end of the year.

Lecornu also discussed French plans to train a brigade of 4,500 Ukrainian soldiers, saying rebuilding capacity is “the big priority” for the Ukrainian army. The country faces a challenge of training 15 to 20 brigades, which he described as an “absolutely considerable effort.”

These were no ordinary metal widgets, argued Massie, who is a program manager for additive manufacturing — another term for 3D printing — at Naval Sea Systems Command. The three parts were built with 3D printers and delivered in less than a year, ready to go on ships.

“Metal additive manufacturing is ready for prime time,” he said.

Earlier this month, the Navy finished a 45-day review of its shipbuilding programs to assess delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic. It found many, including key vessels like aircraft carriers and submarines, were far behind schedule due to a lack of workers and a brittle supply chain.

For both issues, 3D printing could be the answer. To wit, the Navy says work at its Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence in Virginia is crucial to its plans for building submarines. Sailors on select ships, too, are using the equipment to build parts they need at sea.

Even still, Massie was cautious about the technology.

“We’re definitely still at the interim phase,” he told Defense News.

The needs are perhaps most clear for the Navy, and yet even for that service, the technology — and the path to using it more widely — is still growing. Describing his command’s additive manufacturing strategy, Massie listed three challenges.

The first is getting more companies on contract.

In March 2023, his office issued a statement of need for 3D-printed parts. Using a shortcut procurement tool known as an other transaction authority, eight vendors signed contracts within six months, and then parts — including those on the display table — arrived in about nine months.

Still, the Navy needs to send a clearer signal to companies, Massie noted. Eight vendors is a start, he explained, but it’s not enough.

The second challenge is simplifying the process by which the Pentagon buys 3D-printed materials.

The other transaction authority illustrates two sides to the existing process. On one hand, Massie said, it shows how quickly the Defense Department can move to buy parts. On the other, it shows that the department is still learning how to buy them.

“We’re not quite there yet, but eventually it will look and feel a lot like procuring traditional materials,” he said.

The final issue involves testing the parts once they’re acquired. It’s one thing to design materials in a lab, but anything the Navy would use on a ship must undergo testing in the field. Officials have identified parts considered low risk for such testing, and service members are working to integrate them onto ships.

“Ideally you just go order the parts from supply and it’s approved and it gets right in,” Massie said. “But the reality is it’s not going to be that easy for us.”

Speaking with reporters last week, Chris Kastner, the chief executive of the shipbuilder HII, described similar challenges.

The biggest role his company will play in 3D printing, Kastner said, won’t be building the parts themselves. Instead, it will be regulatory — getting approval from the Navy to use such parts on ships.

Kastner said he expects those approvals to increase.

“It’s here, it’s happening,” he said of 3D printing. “I would like it to happen much more quickly and [there be] more of it.”

Last May, the Pentagon described in a letter what parts it thinks are safe enough to build with 3D printers and then test on vessels, Massie said.

James Pluta, also a program manager for additive manufacturing at Naval Sea Systems Command, said those approvals are a sign of how comfortable the Defense Department is with the technology.

“Every year or so we’re getting newer guidance … from leadership that says we don’t just want you to use additive manufacturing, we want you to use it at all opportunities” for these low-risk items, Pluta said.

Speaking on the show floor, he cited examples of ships that needed parts too small to order alone — or below a threshold called the “lowest replaceable unit” — but without which sailors would lose a key capability, such as flying aircraft. In each example, the Navy used 3D printers to rush parts to those sailors, who then fixed the issue.

This year, the Navy plans to focus on installing such materials ashore. But next year, Pluta said, the service has money to install printers on ships, submarines and carriers — around 40 to 50 for polymer parts, and 10 or so for metal ones.

“Over the next year or two,” Pluta said, “we’re going to start to see confidence levels in 3D-printed parts [on ships] increase.”

The strategy, which the Colorado-based company calls Lynx, will first involve using a single 3D printer to make motor cases and subcomponents for smaller systems, founder and chief executive Joe Laurienti said in an interview with Defense News.

In time, he said, Ursa Major hopes that increasing the use of additive manufacturing will transform the solid rocket motor production process, and grow the nation’s ability to replenish its depleted stocks of weapons such as the Javelin, Stinger, and Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System, or GMRLS.

The defense industry as well has been strained by the limited production pipeline for solid rocket motors in recent years, and multiple firms have repositioned themselves in attempts to open up new avenues.

Ursa Major began working on the Lynx approach about two years ago, Laurienti said, seeing it as a way to offer something new to the solid rocket motor industry. Until now, the industry has primarily used additive manufacturing for prototyping, not propulsion.

“We didn’t want to enter the [solid rocket motor] space just to be another entrant,” Laurienti said. “We knew we had to take a really nuanced look at the industry — where are the bottlenecks, where are the needs?”

This approach also allows Ursa Major to rapidly switch production to another solid rocket motor model without extensive retooling or added costs, the company said.

“The two headaches we really saw were flexibility around systems, [and] the ability to not have to stand up a factory for replenishment of a depleted arsenal,” Laurienti said. “We wanted the ability to be very flexible. [Lynx] can work on Javelin one day, and GMLRS the next day, and the AMRAAM [the AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile] that third day, and it doesn’t really mind.”

Laurienti said Ursa Major’s 3D-printed design for these cases will allow some components to be fabricated together in one piece, as opposed to the traditional method where different parts would be made separately and then attached together. This will reduce the number of parts required, increase automation, and lower the overall cost, he said.

“If you’re pulling a dozen parts, and five or 10 manual processes out of each motor, [the cost reduction] is pretty dramatic,” he said.

Slashing production time

Lynx can 3D print about 50 small engine cases, up to 2 ½ inches in diameter, in three days, Laurienti said. Traditional manufacturing processes might take about a month, he said.

Ursa Major’s Lynx printer would be able to create objects up to 22 inches wide, he said. And the company has developed several metallic alloys it can use in 3D printing, including high-strength nickel alloys, as well as titanium and aluminum.

While Ursa Major isn’t working on the Javelin, GMLRS or Stinger programs now, Laurienti said the company believes a 3D printing strategy could help close those vital programs’ production gaps. The need to replenish those weapons has become even more acute as the United States has provided thousands of those munitions to Ukraine to fight against Russia’s invasion since 2022.

Laurienti said Ursa Major already is under contract to use Lynx on one system, but could not yet say what that system is. The company plans to announce that first system by the end of this year, and a second in early 2024.

By the end of 2024, he said, Ursa Major could be using Lynx to create parts for as many as four systems. And Laurienti also wants to have three Lynx 3D printing cells a year from now.

“It’s going to depend on how quickly we can get them up and running,” he said.