
AML3D has secured a 9.9 million AUD order from HII to supply four ARCEMY X large-scale metal 3D printing systems for the Newport News Shipbuilding facility.
Hardware
Originally reported by 3D Printing Industry
AML3D has secured a 9.9 million AUD order from HII to supply four ARCEMY X large-scale metal 3D printing systems for the Newport News Shipbuilding facility. This contract, announced March 17, 2026, brings the total number of ARCEMY X units at the site to six, with full operational status expected by the third quarter of fiscal year 2027. The systems are custom variants of the ARCEMY X 6700 platform, featuring 11,000 kg capacity positioners to facilitate the production of heavy-duty naval components. CEO Sean Ebert confirmed these units will be supplied through the company's U.S. Technology Centre in Ohio to support domestic defense supply chain requirements.
This deployment highlights the increasing integration of wire-fed directed energy deposition (DED) into the U.S. naval industrial base to mitigate long lead times associated with traditional casting and forging. While powder-based systems like LPBF dominate small-scale precision manufacturing, AML3D's wire-based DED process provides higher deposition rates essential for large-scale structural maritime parts. By scaling its footprint at Newport News Shipbuilding, AML3D is positioning itself as a primary hardware provider for the U.S. Navy's efforts to modernize ship maintenance and component fabrication workflows.
For AML3D, the challenge now shifts to executing the installation and commissioning of these four units within the stated 2027 timeline. Buyers and defense contractors should note that the success of this scale-up depends on the company's ability to maintain consistent material properties across multiple machines in a high-throughput production environment. This contract confirms that wire-based DED is becoming a standard tool for large-format defense manufacturing rather than a niche prototyping solution.
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