An extended-range stable rocket motor (SRM) developed by rocket engine producer Ursa Main and Virginia-based Raytheon Applied sciences has accomplished profitable missile flight testing for the US Military. The motor has thus far been flown twice with Raytheon at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake.
Ursa Main’s Lynx 3D printing know-how was used to fabricate the SRM. This, together with Raytheon’s digital engineering capabilities, enabled the companions to speed up growth occasions and lower manufacturing prices.
Daniel Jablonsky, Ursa Main’s CEO, defined that the agency has utilized additive manufacturing to realize “unprecedented timelines,” with almost 300 SRM static take a look at fires accomplished in 2024 alone. For this newest venture, the staff went from idea and design to firing and flight in below 4 months, which Jablonsky known as “lightning quick.” He added that 3D printing has facilitated the manufacturing of “agile stable rocket motor options with the design flexibility wanted to broaden the capabilities of the US army.”
Within the US, demand for SRMs is coupled with a scarcity of home suppliers. Provide chain challenges are impacting the US Division of Protection (DoD)’s efforts to restock inventories and assist ongoing warfare efforts in Ukraine and Israel. The Pentagon’s annual price range request for missile and munitions procurement, in addition to associated analysis and growth, elevated from $9 billion in 2015 to $30.6 billion in 2024.
Jablonsky famous that Ursa Main’s know-how will scale SRM manufacturing “on the tempo and quantity the nation requires and at a worth the nation can afford.”
3D printed SRM completes profitable flight take a look at
RTX Ventures, Raytheon’s enterprise capital division, first invested in Ursa Main in 2023 to broaden its SRM manufacturing capabilities and deal with the US army’s want for reasonably priced precision-guided missiles.
Ursa Main’s Lynx know-how combines metallic 3D printing with product-agnostic tooling to manufacture a number of SRMs concurrently in the identical manufacturing line. Standard SRM manufacturing processes are tough to re-tool, costly to ramp up, and depending on giant workforces. Lynx streamlines this course of, introducing versatile and scalable manufacturing capabilities that unlock higher-volume SRM manufacturing at a fraction of the value.
Raytheon and Ursa Main declare that the additive manufacturing-based strategy will ship “a brand new technology of sensible munitions” for the US Military. These new weapon programs will reportedly be considerably extra reasonably priced than at the moment fielded, conventionally manufactured munitions.
The profitable US Military take a look at demonstrates the long-range missile supply capabilities of the businesses’ 3D printed SRMs. Tom Laliberty, president of Land and Air Protection Methods at Raytheon, said that these motors will permit the US and its allies “to strike farther and quicker than something our adversaries have of their arsenals.” He added that the SRMs present “reasonably priced precision fires, whereas rising vary, security, and journal depth.”
Wanting forward, the subsequent part of this system will see Ursa Main and Raytheon enhance the manufacturing course of, with an extra flight take a look at deliberate for 2025 and qualification in 2026.
In a separate venture, Ursa Main obtained $12.5 million from the US Navy and the Workplace of Strategic Capital (OSC) to scale the manufacturing of 3D printed SRMs. By the prototype venture settlement, the corporate is designing, manufacturing, and testing a brand new SRM prototype for important missiles. This adopted the information that the corporate is 3D printing the Navy’s Mk 104 twin rocket motor, which powers the SM-2, SM-3, and SM-6 missiles.
3D printing missile programs
Ursa Main and Raytheon usually are not the one firms 3D printing missile programs for the US DoD. Earlier this 12 months, Italian rocket and missile producer Avio introduced plans to triple its manufacturing of SRMs over the subsequent 4-5 years to handle rising US demand.
Whereas the position of additive manufacturing on this initiative hasn’t been confirmed, the corporate actively makes use of 3D printing to supply propulsion programs. The agency possesses Velo3D Sapphire 3D printers to manufacture high-strength, corrosion, and temperature-resistance components in nickel-based alloy supplies. Avio beforehand partnered with Raytheon to construct a home industrial base for important SRMs. It’s now constructing a US-based manufacturing facility to strengthen provide chains and diversify sourcing choices.
Elsewhere, US Protection agency Lockheed Martin is 3D printing key elements of its new Mako hypersonic missile. Steel additive manufacturing know-how is getting used to manufacture the jet-fired missile’s steering part and fins, unlocking important time and price financial savings. The steering part is 3D printed ten occasions quicker than typical strategies whereas being simply 1/tenth of the associated fee.
Work on Mako began in 2017, with the missile now at readiness degree six plus, which means it’s prepared for manufacturing. Weighing 1,300 kilos, it has been externally fit-checked on F-35, F/A-18, F-16, F-15, and P-8 plane, with inner fit-checking accomplished on the F-22 and F-35C fighters. Its stable rocket motor (SRM) can speed up Mako to Mach 5.
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Featured picture exhibits an Ursa Main SRM being examined. Picture through Ursa Main.
