FLEETWERX and NPS CAMRE field test distributed AM pipeline for military operations at Camp Roberts

FLEETWERX, in collaboration with the Naval Postgraduate School's Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing Research and Education (NPS CAMRE), is conducting FLEET-X, a live operational exercise at Camp Roberts during the Joint Interagency Field Experimentation (JIFX) 26-3 event, concluding May 15. The exercise tests a complete distributed manufacturing pipeline: from part identification and digital file preparation through AI-enabled tasking software from 3YourMind and Avathon, to part production using additive systems from Re:3D, Fieldmade, ADDiTEC, CEAD, and Snowbird Technologies, and finally autonomous delivery via Splash Industries' unmanned surface vessels and HavocAI platforms. The goal is to validate a single connected system ahead of RIMPAC 2026, with DINA capturing exercise data for refinement. Ethan Brown, FLEETWERX Program Manager, stated the exercise aims to show how industry partners and software can reduce part production lead times and move capability closer to the point of need.

This exercise directly addresses the defense vertical's accelerating push for operational logistics resilience, a trend amplified by the 2025-2026 NDAA §849 split that reshapes supplier eligibility. The FLEET-X pipeline mirrors the aerospace qualification grind pattern but compresses it into a field-testing cycle: rather than 10-15 year certification, the military is iterating on distributed manufacturing through live exercises. The inclusion of polymer, metal, and composite production from multiple vendors (Re:3D for large-format FGF, Fieldmade for field-deployable systems, ADDiTEC for DED, CEAD for composite, Snowbird for hybrid) reflects the cross-process reality that no single AM technology dominates field logistics. The AI-enabled workflow layer from 3YourMind and Avathon is critical — it transforms the exercise from a hardware demo into a software-defined logistics system, which is the actual bottleneck for distributed manufacturing adoption. This is a structural market redefinition event: if validated at RIMPAC 2026, it could establish a template for how the US military procures and deploys AM capabilities, shifting from program-duration lock-in to agile, multi-vendor field networks.

From an expert standpoint, the practical significance is that FLEET-X moves beyond the typical single-vendor AM demonstration toward a system-of-systems integration test. The key execution risk is whether the AI tasking software can reliably route part requests to the optimal manufacturing partner under field conditions, and whether the autonomous delivery platforms can handle the logistics handoffs without human intervention. For industry participants, the real value is in the data captured by DINA — that will determine which technologies and workflows survive the transition from exercise to operational doctrine. The outcome at RIMPAC 2026 will set the baseline for how the defense vertical integrates AM into its supply chain, not as a novelty but as a standard logistics node.