L3Harris cuts hypersonic propulsion component production time tenfold with advanced additive manufacturing

The work is being carried out under a Department of War Manufacturing Technology Program contract through Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane. The contract supports development of a prototype solution for the Growing Additive Manufacturing Maturity for Airbreathing Hypersonics challenge, known as GAMMA-H.

“Under GAMMA-H, we have been identifying materials, equipment and processes capable of building these propulsion systems at scale,” said Scott Alexander, President, Missile Propulsion, Missile Solutions, L3Harris. “The new equipment and processes we’ve developed have enabled us to reduce the time it takes to 3D-print components by a factor of 10 resulting in higher production rates and lower costs.”

The company is integrating large-format additive manufacturing, robotics, autonomous machines and equipment, along with optimized processes. According to L3Harris, this approach is designed to create an end-to-end scramjet propulsion manufacturing capability that does not depend on an extensive supply chain.

“We are building the foundation for a factory of the future that will enable us to start with just powdered metal and quickly produce a complete propulsion system,” added Alexander. “By combining steps and simplifying 3D-printing processes, we have reduced the need for expensive and time-consuming machining and post-print processing.”

L3Harris provides a broad portfolio of technologies supporting hypersonic applications. These include ramjets, scramjets, solid rocket motors, warheads, advanced sensors and other missile defense technologies.