Stratasys Awarded US Navy US$20mn 3D Printing Contract
Who is Stratasys?
Founded in 1984, Stratasys is an innovative, global leader in additive manufacturing technology solutions. For over 30 years, the company has been working with its Aerospace, Automotive, Consumer Products, Design, Education, and Healthcare customers to fuel purposeful innovations to create new value across product lifecycle processes.
Stratasys and the US Navy
Recently the US Navy has awarded the innovative additive manufacturing company, with a US$20mn contract to purchase up to 25 of Stratasys’s 3D printers, specifically its F900 model.
The delivery of the first eight printers are expected to be delivered to the US Navy by the end of the year, with the rest of the F900 printers to be delivered over the next five years.
In addition to the printers, the contract includes initial support and sustainment, materials, and development of initial training for the supplied systems.
The news comes eight months after the US Department of Defense (DoD) issued a report outlining its additive manufacturing strategy. In the report, the DoD explained how manufacturing is facing a digital revolution, and the important role additive manufacturing will play in the shift to a digital manufacturing ecosystem.
The report particularly references how additive manufacturing can help modernise national defence systems, increase material readiness, and enhance warfighting innovation and capability.
Other objectives laid out by the DoD included the integration of additive manufacturing in both the department and the broader defence industrial base, as well as advancing and promoting the agile use of the technology.
“The benefits of additive manufacturing for military organizations like the U.S. Navy include cost-effectively extending the life of strategic and tactical assets like aircraft while ensuring sustainment activities can happen quickly and from virtually anywhere,” said Mark Menninger, director of US government business segment for Stratasys.
“This contract, the largest government project for Stratasys to-date, continues to expand the presence of industrial 3D printing from Stratasys across the US government.