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24 Oct 2023

Demonstrating the value of additive manufacturing

Babcock’s Material Availability Services (MAS) team recently led the way in demonstrating the value of additive manufacturing to a pan-defence cohort, displaying a wide range of 3D printed parts produced to support the Ministry of Defence (MOD) Land Rover Wolf fleet.

The team has been working as part of the MOD’s Project Tampa, the working group for the MOD’s first industry and defence accelerator programme, focused on the use of additive manufacturing to increase material availability across defence.

​The aim of the project is to explore the benefits of using additive manufacturing, more commonly known as 3D printing, and the issues that prevent it from being used in our industry. The objective is to accelerate the use of additive parts, and in doing so, open the door to greater innovation in manufacturing.

At a recent meeting at Silverstone, home of the Digital Manufacturing Centre the Babcock team were able to share expertise with other members of industry and defence representatives from Field Army and Strategic Command.

One of the highlights of the day was having the opportunity to demonstrate an array of polymer and metallic parts produced for a specific MOD Land Rover Wolf, helping to bring to life our capability in using additive manufacturing technology. 

Jon Morley, Co-chair of the working group and Director of Babcock’s MAS team said: “Babcock has been making great strides in additive manufacturing and are recognised as leaders in the defence sector. Bringing along the Land Rover Wolf to Project Tampa provided real-world context in how we can use the latest technologies to resolve long standing challenges, and we are focussed on delivering robust technical solutions to deliver alongside the services.”

In a world of significant geopolitical instability, national security has never been more important. Our work on Project Tampa opens the door to greater innovation in defence manufacturing, so we can ensure that the critical services and assets of our armed forces are readily available, affordable and long lasting.