AI and 3D printing cut wait times for military parts repair in San Diego
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — The military is using 3D printing and artificial intelligence (AI) to create parts in a way that’s revolutionizing military technology.
The work being done in San Diego, both on base and by local companies, is reducing wait times for parts and fixing issues on joint force aircrafts and ships in record time.
“This is Uber for manufacturing, delivered at the speed of Amazon across the globe for nuclear-grade propulsion parts. It’s challenging when you’re doing that in a contested environment and that’s what’s really exciting about this particular project,” Lt. Colonel Michael Radigan with the Marine Innovation Unit said.
On Tuesday during Exercise Trident Warrior, the Navy’s Experimentation Arm, Radigan and his team showed how the military is operationalizing advanced manufacturing.
Aircrafts and ships can’t fit every backup part they would need, and instead of bringing the fleet back to base for a repair, they are now bringing 3D printing equipment on board, often housed in a mobile fabrication center.
“We’re using cutting edge technology,” Jacob Lopez the Lead Manufacturing Technologist with Naval Surface Warfare Center Corona Division in Fallbrook said. “We need to make sure our warfighters are safe, we can get them home, save lives.”
“The lead time here I believe was between 6 and 9 months. A $30,000 part, we did it in three days,” Lopez said. He trains military members on how to use the product, so they can repair equipment in the middle of a battlefield.
If a part is made off site, depending on where the military boat is located, crews can also send parts to the ship using a drone or autonomous boat.