Australian Army extends metal AM trial partnership with SPEE3D
August 5, 2021
SPEE3D, Melbourne, Australia, reports that its partnership with the Australian Army has been extended for a further twelve months in order to continue supporting metal Additive Manufacturing opportunities within defence.
Under the extended partnership, SPEE3D will once again collaborate with the Australian Army’s 1st Combat Service Support Battalion, this time focusing on the development of new systems with the potential to significantly increase the readily available inventory of unique metal repair parts.
In 2020, the Australian Army announced a $1.5 million investment into a twelve-month pilot of SPEE3D AM technology, followed by training soldiers in Additive Manufacturing and two field trials of SPEE3D’s large-format WarpSPEE3D metal AM machine, both installed on-base and deployed in the field for multiple army exercises. The aim of the pilot project was to determine the applicability of the company’s AM technology to military forces due to its potential of being able to revolutionise how parts are sourced in remote areas.
The 2020 trials reportedly delivered ground-breaking results, wherein Royal Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineering soldiers from the 1st Brigade designed and additively manufactured over fifty parts for case studies. This success demonstrated the technology’s ability to operate in remote, harsh environments, offering a deployable, reliable manufacturing tool able to build low-cost metal parts on demand within minutes.
“We’re really excited about this new step in our partnership with the Australian Army,” stated Steven Camilleri, CTO of SPEE3D. “Last year, in the trials, our technology proved the potential to complement defence’s existing supply chain with the ability to easily replace damaged parts by manufacturing their own. SPEE3D is pleased to have been selected to partner with the Army again in further developing the future capability of defence in Australia.”
