WASHINGTON—Technologies that will enable service members to remain combat-effective in extreme temperatures were showcased by The Office of the Secretary of Defense Manufacturing Technology Program (ManTech) during a technology demonstration in December at the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory in Hanover, New Hampshire, according to a release from the U.S. Department of Defense.
ManTech held the event with support from the Army Combat Capabilities Development Command. The demonstration featured technologies generated by the U.S. Department of Defense’s Manufacturing Innovation Institute (MII) member companies that won the Point-of-Need Manufacturing Challenge by proposing solutions to the Department’s operational constraints in extreme cold temperatures, the release said.
The six project demonstrations exhibited systems that could be deployed in a cold weather environment, closing supply chain gaps, and enabling warfighters to manufacture and use critical equipment on demand in the harshest environments. The technologies were tested by members of the U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps, and Army National Guard.
The technology featured in the event was manufactured using processes that included card repair and medical brace additive manufacturing; cold spray metal additive manufacturing; metal additive manufacturing; and cybersecurity for manufacturing systems, including robotics and additive manufacturing equipment, DoD said in the release.
Defense officials from partner nations joined senior civilian and military leaders from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, military services, defense agencies, and Army National Guard to observe the event, underscoring the Pentagon’s priority to deliver cutting edge technology to the joint force.
“We don’t fight alone,” said Army Maj. Gen. Gregory Knight, the Vermont National Guard’s Adjutant General. “The partnerships are key.”
Other leaders who attended the event included Assistant Secretary of Defense for Science and Technology Dr. Steven Wax; DEVCOM Deputy Commanding General, Brig. Gen. David Trybula; and DoD ManTech Director Tracy Frost, who congratulated the developers on their accomplishments advancing defense technologies to meet the warfighters’ needs.
“Material performance in the cold is different,” said Wax. “We must understand this to adapt to support current operations.”
The Point of Need challenge winners have proven to be champions of research and innovation and are helping to maintain the United States military’s technological advantage. Ensuring the security of our nation requires providing the warfighter with a robust toolset in all environments, the DoD said.
“We don’t want ‘home games,’ which is why we prepare to operate in all environments,” Trybula said.
The members of the MIIs demonstrated rapid innovative solutions to challenging warfighter requirements. ManTech is investing nearly $2.5 million, while industry partners are contributing close to $700,000 in cost share.
Following are descriptions of some of the technologies showcased at the event:
Portable Manufacturing Station for a Self-Administrable Injectable Applicator
* MII: BioFabUSA, Manchester, New Hampshire
* Prime Contractor: DEKA Integrated Solutions, Manchester, New Hampshire
DEKA has developed a novel, hollow-microneedle-based intradermal delivery applicator for self-administering therapeutic agents. Through the DoD grant, DEKA will further the development of a portable, rugged manufacturing station that can fill the required therapeutic agent at a forward-operating base and then send the applicator forward to warfighters to administer vaccines and other needed therapeutic agents.
The portable manufacturing station enables the low-cost, quick, and effective administration of needed therapeutic agents for viruses, allergens, and emerging threats without the need for skilled medical personnel in the field. A less-rugged version of this same manufacturing station can be used in a just-in-time manufactured hub-and-spoke distribution system to serve civilian needs across the United States.
Austere nField Repair
* MII: NextFlex, San Jose, California
* Prime Contractor: nScrypt, Orlando, Florida
Using the nRugged™ tool, an integrated and rugged “factory in a box,” the project employs additive electronics and mechanical part manufacturing to replace and repair damaged hardware at austere points of need. Ultimately, nScrypt will demonstrate four stages of functionality: fabricating a replacement electronic printed circuit board, repairing a damaged printed circuit board, 3D printing a replacement mechanical part, and manufacturing a customized biomedical brace.
Intrepid Expeditionary 3D Printer
* MII: America Makes, Youngstown, Ohio
* Prime Contractor: Craitor, San Diego, California
The Intrepid Expeditionary 3D Printer can print critical parts in the field. This project, led by Craitor, will use current capabilities as the foundation to de-risk manufacturing at the point of need through established standards and procedures. It will also form a framework for future manufacturing ecosystems. The project will occur over five phases, with the objective of improving the confidence of operators, reducing the risk for prime manufacturers, and increasing the investment in the digital ecosystem by existing original equipment manufacturers.
Securing the Digital Backbone with Corsha’s Zero-Trust Platform for Machines
* MII: ARM, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
* Prime Contractor: Corsha, Vienna, Virginia
The Corsha platform manages cybersecurity challenges by addressing security limitations and providing zero-trust network access, even to legacy manufacturing equipment, thereby mitigating the risk of a security breach by implementing an additional, out-of-band layer of access control.
Expeditionary Manufacturing Unit for Battlefield Repair and Readiness
* MII: LIFT, Detroit, Michigan
* Prime Contractor: SPEE3D, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and Wilmington, Delaware
SPEE3D’s 3D Metal Printing Technology is an industry proven, military tested, expeditionary, all-in-one solution. The system uses existing cold spray technology to create complex 3D parts quickly. SPEE3D’s technology has been demonstrated in operations in hot and hot-humid environments, including work with the United Kingdom and Australian militaries, the U.S. Navy Repair Technology Exercise 2022, and the U.S. Army’s Project Convergence 2022. The project goal is to successfully 3D print, in a sub-freezing environment, metal parts that are equivalent in quality to the same parts printed on the same technology in a lab environment.
The DoD ManTech Program comprises investment programs operated out of the U.S. Military Services, Defense Logistics Agency, Missile Defense Agency, and OSD.
The OSD ManTech office is responsible for administering the DoD ManTech Program and manages two investment portfolios: the Manufacturing Science and Technology Program, and the DoD MIIs. The charter of these public-private partnerships is to advance research and development to promote innovation while modernizing U.S. military capabilities; grow manufacturing ecosystems to enhance the Nation’s competitiveness; and further education and workforce development for the jobs of the future, the release said.
Source: U.S. Department of Defense News
https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3619258/point-of-need-manufacturing-challenge-demonstrates-technologies-for-cold-weathe/