NAVAIR Outlines 3-D Printing Roadmap

The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) plans to conduct flight tests in June of a V-22 Osprey with parts made by a three-dimensional printer. The tests would mark a milestone in the service’s effort to incorporate 3-D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, as a means of controlling costs and speeding the parts-replacement process, Elizabeth McMichael and Dr. Bill Frazier of NAVAIR told an audience at the Navy League’s annual Sea-Air-Space exposition in Oxon Hill, Md., May 17. “If we are going to use AM [additive manufacturing] … we need to make parts. We need to move forward and see how we could make these things with this process and get them qualified and certified and get them safely on our airplanes,” McMichael said.