As soon as per quarter, the Joint Interagency Area Experimentation (JIFX) group on the US Naval Postgraduate Faculty holds weeklong workouts devoted to demonstrating rising applied sciences seen by the Division of Protection (DoD) as crucial to nationwide safety. Held at California’s Camp Roberts, JIFX week gives a possibility for collaboration throughout the navy branches, and between the navy and the non-public sector.
The newest JIFX week, held in February, featured amongst its contributors Firestorm Labs, the corporate behind the xCell containerized additive manufacturing (AM) system, designed for tactically deployed drone manufacturing. In January, Firestorm landed a five-year, $100 million Air Drive contract to develop 3D printed drones.
At February’s JIFX week, an xCell unit powered by startup Chariot Protection’s cell high-voltage battery-powered generator churned out components for Firestorm’s Tempest drones. The printed components included nosecones with digicam ports, fuselage segments for carrying payloads between 10 and 20 kilos over ranges of 100-675 miles, and various wing and tail segments.
In a DVIDS article in regards to the workouts, the director of JIFX, retired US Military Particular Forces Colonel Michael Richardson, mentioned, “This February occasion was essentially the most partaking experimentation week since earlier than the pandemic. A part of that was the climate. The periodic heavy rain and powerful winds gave our collaborating corporations the identical difficult situations their applied sciences can be anticipated to carry out in if a part of the fleet or drive. …A number of corporations achieved firsts with their programs and practically everybody collaborated in an ad-hoc experiment or two that demonstrated their capability to handle operational challenges extra successfully collectively.”
The VP of {hardware} at Firestorm Labs, Invoice Buel, mentioned, “The concept for xCell got here to fruition in order that we might manufacture our drone on the edge in a contested logistics atmosphere. However throughout growth, we realized there’s additionally a wider want for xCell as producer for spare components and different drones. It doesn’t even must be our drones. So, we actually embrace that. Now we have taken an operator first strategy, and we wish to empower the operator to make this really modular.”
Picture courtesy of Daniel Linehan, NPS, through DVIDS
Over the course of just about a decade, the US navy — and the US Navy, specifically — has proven rising curiosity in utilizing AM to allow expeditionary manufacturing models, with containerized programs driving the success of corporations like SPEE3D. Now, that basis seems to be hitting an inflection level as frontline drone manufacturing turns into an evermore essential functionality within the wake of conflicts in Ukraine and the Center East.
In that vein, expeditionary models might take over from rocket motors as “the large factor” for AM within the protection contract world, which might give Firestorm Labs a good shot at changing into the subsequent Ursa Main. Curiously, in an interview from final 12 months with Ursa Main co-founder (and then-CEO) Joe Laurienti, Laurienti advised me that drones are one of many areas the corporate is trying to discover down the street, suggesting the potential for collaboration between Firestorm and Ursa.
It is usually value mentioning that, on the February JIFX week, a laser weapon system (LWS) was used for the primary time, which succeeded at destroying Group 1 UAS programs (totally different from these produced by Firestorm). Alongside using lasers to provide the Firestorm drones, that is solely the most recent growth to spotlight how crucial fiber lasers are to US provide chains, a difficulty I wrote about in the beginning of 2024, and which appears poised to solely turn out to be extra related within the present commerce conflict atmosphere.
Subscribe to Our Electronic mail Publication
Keep up-to-date on all the most recent information from the 3D printing trade and obtain info and presents from third celebration distributors.
Add your 3D Fashions and get them printed shortly and effectively.
