Page 10 - Australian Defence Magazine October 2021

10 NEWS REVIEW INDUSTRY UPDATE
OCTOBER 2021 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
ARMY EXTENDS PARTNERSHIP WITH SPEE3D
THE partnership between Australian Army and SPEE3D is set to continue in 2021, with plans to trial SPEE3D’s metal 3D printing technology for a further 12 months.
SPEE3D has once again been provided the opportunity to collaborate with the Ar- my’s 1st Combat Service Support Battal- ion. This time, the partnership will focus on the development of new systems that
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“The analysis of the consequences of this sovereign Australian decision will be conducted with the Commonwealth of Australia in the coming days.”
As the diplomatic fallout grew, Tony Dalton, Deputy Secretary National Naval Shipbuilding, said the decision was driven by ‘strategic circumstances’.
“The decision to not proceed with the Attack Class Submarine Program was driven by a consideration of the strategic circumstances and the impact this has on Australia’s submarine capability require- ments,” Dalton said. “It was not related to the performance of Naval Group or Lock- heed Martin.”
The deal means the work required to keep the Collins boats in service will be-
have the potential to significantly increase the readily available inventory of unique metal repair parts.
“We’re really excited about this new step in our partnership with the Austra- lian Army,” Steven Camilleri, CTO of SPEE3D, said. “Last year, in the trials, our technology proved the potential to com- plement Defence’s existing supply chain
come even more critical to maintaining Australia’s submarine capability whilst a nuclear-powered replacement is built, as Senior Correspondent Julian Kerr notes in his story on page 24.
There are also concerns for Australian companies that spent significant time and effort becoming involved in Sea 1000, which was essentially scrapped overnight.
“With no notice and in the midst of a pandemic, the rug has been pulled out from under the SMEs in the Australian de- fence industry supply chain who were al- ready working or were gearing up for work on the Attack Class submarines,” Shadow Minister for Defence Matt Keogh said.
PM Morrison outlined a plan to redis- tribute shipbuilding talent from Sea 1000 across the Naval Shipbuilding Enterprise.
LEFT: SPEE3D completed trials with the Australian Army at the Mount Bundey field training area in 2020.
with the ability to easily replace damaged parts by manufactur- ing their own.”
In 2020, the Australian Army announced a $1.5 million investment into a 12-month pilot of SPEE3D technology, followed by the training of sol- diers in 3D printing and two trials of the company’s large- format WarpSPEE3D metal 3D printer, both installed on- base and deployed in the field for multiple Army exercises. The aim of the pilot project was to determine the appli- cability of this technology to
military forces. The technology has the potential to revolutionise how parts are sourced in remote areas.
The 2020 trials reportedly delivered strong results, where Royal Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineering soldiers from the 1st Brigade designed and manufactured over 50 case studies of parts.
“The Government will actively work with industry to ensure the people and skills developed under the existing pro- gram are not lost to the Government’s Na- val Shipbuilding Enterprise as we estab- lish a new program to support the delivery of nuclear-powered submarines to the Navy,” Morrison said. “The Government will partner with our Australian-owned sovereign shipbuilder, ASC, to manage and implement a new Sovereign Ship- building Talent Pool.
“The Sovereign Shipbuilding Talent Pool will re-deploy the existing shipbuild- ing workforce throughout current and new shipbuilding programs, while build- ing the nuclear-powered submarine skills that will be crucial for the success of the nuclear-powered submarine program.”
SPEE3D