What happens if an Army vehicle or a warship breaks an important part out at the bush or at sea? Under normal arrangements, a new part, if available, would be dispatched from store, arriving days or weeks later.
But with a suitable 3D printer, the part could be produced on the spot.
3D printing – or additive manufacture – has advanced to the stage where components of different metals can be rapidly produced in deployable printers, such as that made by Melbourne company SPEE3D and displayed at the 2022 Land Forces Conference in Brisbane.
The XSPEE3D isn’t a desktop scale printer – it’s housed in a large green shipping container.
Chief executive officer Byron Kennedy said there were a lot of metal printers on the market but what differentiated SPEE3D was the ability to produce parts at point of need.
“Defence wants to solve problem quicker. The value of a part doubles for every 100 minutes quicker you can get it to your end customer. The most value is when you have the printer right next to the problem,” he told ADM.
“Where are the problems for defence – it’s on the frontline.
“What we have done with our technology is made it fully deployable.”
Kennedy said the Army had taken the printer out into the bush in the Northern Territory to trial it producing parts.
XSPEE3D employs a fixed supersonic jet of powdered metal which deposits onto a workpiece moved by an industrial robotic arm. Metals which can be used include aluminium, stainless steel, copper and titanium.
SPEE3D’s tech has been tried by the US Navy which proved it could produce parts at sea.
He said Defence had proven parts could be produced at the frontline.
“Defence is now going to make the determination on how far forward they want to go,” he said.