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Navy To Test 3D-Printed Part; Pentagon To Outspend Apple, Google On R&D
The Navy will test a 3D-printed part on a Boeing V22 Osprey in June. (Boeing)

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The Navy will test a flight-critical part made with a 3D printer in June, and the Pentagon plans to spend more on R&D than Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL), Apple (AAPL) and Intel (INTC) combined.

The Naval Air Systems Command (NavAir) will test a 3D-printed engine nacelle and link attachment on a Boeing (BA) V-22 Osprey next month. The part, built with titanium powder, marks the first time NavAir has used a flight-critical 3D-printed part in flight.

NavAir wanted a flight critical part developed and 3D-printed in three years, but it only took roughly half that time, according to Elizabeth McMichael, an additive manufacturing product team leader for NavAir, at the Navy’s Sea-Air-Space Exposition on Tuesday.

NavAir doesn’t plan to start making parts but to instead develop standards for industry partners to follow. The group plans to start working with stainless steel parts later this month.

While the Navy is ahead of its schedule, 3D printing in the aerospace sector isn’t new. General Electric (GE) says its aviation unit plans to print 100,000 parts by 2020.

Boeing shares fell 1.2% in the stock market today. GE shares dipped 0.8%.

The Navy has been using 3D printing and additive manufacturing for over 20 years, but certification is one of the biggest technical issues, according to McMichael.

The engine nacelle and link attachment can be printed in three days, but it takes months to certify the part.

“That’s not right,” McMichael said. “If I were queen for a day, I would make the certification process weeks or days.”

The Navy has been experimenting with additive manufacturing for 20 years. A Stratasys (SSYS) 3D printer is onboard one of its ships. But all of the efforts at sea deal with the more mature polymer process. Metal work is newer and requires more technical training.

Stratasys shares climbed 1.9%.

Defense R&D Spending

Defense Secretary Ash Carter has been putting an emphasis on research and development and working with industry partners.

Carter said Tuesday that the Defense Department plans to spend $72 billion in R&D in fiscal year 2017, up from $66 billion in fiscal 2014. That’s more than double what Apple, Intel and Google parent Alphabet spent on R&D last year combined.

Apple stock fell 0.4%. Alphabet slid 1.4% and Intel 1.3% each.

Regarding the 2017 budget, Carter said the Defense Department was investing in ways to make weapons more lethal and make ships harder to find and attack.

“But to maintain that lethality and capability, it’s a competitive world, we need to continue to invest in innovation and think outside our five-sided box.”

Carter has sent up technology initiatives in Silicon Valley, and earlier this month he announced a project with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston.

http://www.investors.com/news/navy-to-test-3d-printed-part-dod-to-spend-more-on-rd-than-apple-google/