BIRMINGHAM, AL, USA, Jan 17, 2024 – Velo3D, Inc. (NYSE: VLD), a leading metal additive manufacturing technology company for mission-critical parts, today announced Kratos SRE, Inc., a subsidiary of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS), has acquired a Velo3D Sapphire printer to support Kratos’s technology development and ability to rapidly, reliably, and affordability address defense industry customers’ evolving requirements. The Velo3D state-of-the-art metal additive manufacturing solution will be operated by Kratos SRE in its expanding rapid prototyping and manufacturing center, where it will be used to accelerate the vertical integration of critical supply chains in certain areas of the broader Kratos organization.
“It’s important to our team to leverage new, advanced manufacturing technologies so we can maintain our leadership in the defense industry and better serve our customers,” said Michael Johns, Kratos SRE Senior Vice President. “With Velo3D’s solution, we expect to be able to further unlock high-speed manufacturing capabilities that reduce lead times and lower costs of the parts we develop. In addition, it will allow us to rapidly innovate and accelerate design cycles for parts used in existing platforms.”
Kratos SRE has been a long-time user of Velo3D’s metal additive manufacturing solution, leveraging the technology through the Velo3D Contract Manufacturer Network. Kratos SRE focuses on designing and building parts, systems, and structures for extreme environments. It also oversees the Characterization of Additive Manufactured Metals (CAMM) program, which analyzes additive materials to understand process variation in specimens and tests designs ahead of high-volume production. Data gathered through CAMM is aggregated into a materials database of key process variations, which is used to better understand the properties of additively manufactured parts and identify new use cases for the technology.
“Forward-thinking defense companies like Kratos are increasingly adopting additive manufacturing technology because it can enable continuous design improvements and unlock highly scalable production to meet fluctuating demands,” said Brad Kreger, Velo3D CEO and EVP of Operations. “The beauty of our solution is that companies can begin by leveraging the Velo3D Contract Manufacturer Network and then purchase their own printer as their demand for parts increases. Once their needs exceed the throughput capability of a single machine, it’s simple to scale production to other printers, including our large format Sapphire XC.”
As a U.S.-based additive manufacturing technology provider, Velo3D’s fully integrated solution is widely used by American defense companies that provide parts to branches of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). All Velo3D printers are designed and built in America and recently achieved the highest level of security compliance the DoD offers—Green-level Security Technical Implementation Guide (STIG) compliance. The certification enables Velo3D printers to connect to the DoD’s Secret Internet Protocol Router Network (SIPRNet), making it easier for organizations and companies to acquire the printers for use in DoD-related projects.
Velo3D and Kratos SRE will be attending the Military Additive Manufacturing Summit & Technology Showcase in Tampa, Florida on January 16-17, 2024. Velo3D will be giving a presentation on “Solving DIB Supply Chain Logistics with Distributed Additive Manufacturing” the first day of the conference at 3:05 p.m. on the main stage. Event attendees can stop by the Velo3D booth, #101, to meet the Kratos SRE and Velo3D teams, learn more about Velo3D’s fully integrated metal additive manufacturing solution, and see and handle 3D printed parts.
About Velo3D
Velo3D is a metal 3D printing technology company. 3D printing—also known as additive manufacturing (AM)—has a unique ability to improve the way high-value metal parts are built. However, legacy metal AM has been greatly limited in its capabilities since its invention almost 30 years ago. This has prevented the technology from being used to create the most valuable and impactful parts, restricting its use to specific niches where the limitations were acceptable.
Velo3D has overcome these limitations so engineers can design and print the parts they want. The company’s solution unlocks a wide breadth of design freedom and enables customers in space exploration, aviation, power generation, energy, and semiconductor to innovate the future in their respective industries. Using Velo3D, these customers can now build mission-critical metal parts that were previously impossible to manufacture. The fully integrated solution includes the Flow print preparation software, the Sapphire family of printers, and the Assure quality control system—all of which are powered by Velo3D’s Intelligent Fusion manufacturing process. The company delivered its first Sapphire system in 2018 and has been a strategic partner to innovators such as SpaceX, Aerojet Rocketdyne, Lockheed Martin, Avio, and General Motors. Velo3D has been named as one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies for 2023. For more information, please visit Velo3D.com, or follow the company on LinkedIn or Twitter.
