The U.S. military is increasingly turning to additive manufacturing not as an experimental tool, but as a strategic response to a structural problem: supply chains that were never built for the speed of modern conflict. The latest example comes from Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE), a U.S. Navy aircraft depot in North Carolina, which has qualified, produced, and delivered its first flight-certified metal 3D printed parts entirely in-house, completing the process in under six months.
Flight-Certified, Fleet-Ready
To manufacture these flight-ready parts, FRCE used a laser-based metal additive manufacturing process in which a high-powered laser welds thin layers of aluminum powder into dense, solid components. Like traditionally manufactured components, these parts required full qualification before deployment, meeting the same stringent aerospace safety and quality standards.
Using this process, FRCE produced and delivered three non-flight-critical, flight-certified components across multiple aircraft platforms: a weapons pylon fitting for the AH-1Z Viper, a landing gear repair fitting for the V-22 Osprey, and a blanking plate for the C-130 Hercules.
A Supply Chain Problem, Solved On-Site
The operational value of this capability lies in its impact on supply chains and aircraft availability. In many cases, replacement parts can be difficult to source through traditional procurement channels, leading to extended downtime. By contrast, additive manufacturing offers a localized, on-demand alternative, allowing parts to be produced on-site and significantly reducing lead times.
Crucially, this capability was built and qualified entirely within FRCE’s own Advanced Technology and Innovation Team, rather than outsourced to commercial additive manufacturing providers. That distinction matters: the depot now owns the process, the qualification, and the ability to respond to urgent fleet needs without going through external supply chains.
The urgency behind this shift was captured by the FRCE Additive Manufacturing Team lead: “If there’s a fight and the fleet needs these parts tomorrow, they won’t have time to wait for those parts through traditional supply chains… The goal is to give the fleet what they need when they need it, and we did just that.”
Setting a NAVAIR Record
Completing the full qualification, production, and certification process in under six months was a milestone in itself, marking the fastest such achievement in Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) history. The accomplishment was the result of a collaborative effort involving NAVAIR’s Additive Manufacturing Team, Fleet Support Teams, and FRCE’s Advanced Technology and Innovation Team.
“This is the fastest this sort of thing has ever been done within Naval Air Systems Command, and it shows that we are competitive with industry standards. This entire process has been a team effort between FRC East, our headquarters, the site in Lakehurst, and the Fleet Support Teams, working together to ensure these parts are ready and reliable for our troops,” the team lead said.
What Comes Next
Stainless steel is next on the roadmap, a material significantly stronger than the aluminum used so far, which will open the door to more structurally demanding components. For the fleet, that means an even broader range of parts available on demand, and a further step toward manufacturing independence from traditional supply chains.
FRCE’s progress is one piece of a broader push across the U.S. military to embed manufacturing capability wherever it is needed most. The U.S. Army’s SPARTA drone program reflects the same logic at the other end of the spectrum, where soldiers are already printing and repairing their own UAVs in the field.
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*All Photo Credits: NAVAIR