Velo3D, a U.S. manufacturer of metal 3D printers, has secured a multi-year production contract valued at $11.5 million with a defense contractor. The agreement is tied to a national security program and will utilize the company's Rapid Production Solution. The goal is to manufacture critical metal components with greater speed and reduced cost compared to traditional manufacturing methods.
Sapphire Technology and Rapid Defense Qualification ⚙️
The contract is based on Velo3D's Sapphire technology, which enables the production of large-format parts with quality monitoring on every layer. The systems are assembled in the U.S. Recently, the company became the first additive manufacturing provider approved under the U.S. Army framework. This milestone was achieved after qualifying components in less than two weeks, meeting the required technology readiness and manufacturing levels for full-rate production in the defense sector.
When Your 3D Printer Goes from Prototypes to National Security Programs 🔒
There's a point in every tech company's life when projects stop being trade show mockups and turn into parts for programs that don't usually appear on the web. Velo3D has reached that stage: its machines no longer just promise to revolutionize manufacturing, but are ready to produce components whose instruction manual is probably classified. A leap from shall we print a candle holder? to shall we print this that's vital for national defense?. The two-week approval suggests the military was more impatient than a user waiting for their first benchy.