WASHINGTON — Propulsion firm Ursa Major announced a 3D printing-based approach to designing and manufacturing solid rocket motors it hopes will result in faster and cheaper production.
The strategy, which the Colorado-based company calls Lynx, will first involve using a single 3D printer to make motor cases and subcomponents for smaller systems, founder and chief executive Joe Laurienti said in an interview with Defense News.
In time, he said, Ursa Major hopes that increasing the usage of additive manufacturing will transform the solid rocket motor production process, and grow the nation’s ability to replenish its depleted stocks of weapons reminiscent of the Javelin, Stinger, and Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System, or GMRLS.
The defense industry as well has been strained by the limited production pipeline for solid rocket motors in recent times, and multiple firms have repositioned themselves in attempts to open up recent avenues.
Ursa Major began working on the Lynx approach about two years ago, Laurienti said, seeing it as a strategy to offer something recent to the solid rocket motor industry. Until now, the industry has primarily used additive manufacturing for prototyping, not propulsion.
“We didn’t wish to enter the [solid rocket motor] space simply to be one other entrant,” Laurienti said. “We knew we needed to take a very nuanced have a look at the industry — where are the bottlenecks, where are the needs?”
This approach also allows Ursa Major to rapidly switch production to a different solid rocket motor model without extensive retooling or added costs, the corporate said.
“The 2 headaches we actually saw were flexibility around systems, [and] the power to not must get up a factory for replenishment of a depleted arsenal,” Laurienti said. “We wanted the power to be very flexible. [Lynx] can work on Javelin someday, and GMLRS the subsequent day, and the AMRAAM [the AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile] that third day, and it doesn’t really mind.”
Laurienti said Ursa Major’s 3D-printed design for these cases will allow some components to be fabricated together in a single piece, versus the standard method where different parts can be made individually after which attached together. It will reduce the variety of parts required, increase automation, and lower the general cost, he said.
“Should you’re pulling a dozen parts, and five or 10 manual processes out of every motor, [the cost reduction] is pretty dramatic,” he said.
Slashing production time
Lynx can 3D print about 50 small engine cases, as much as 2 ½ inches in diameter, in three days, Laurienti said. Traditional manufacturing processes might take a couple of month, he said.
Ursa Major’s Lynx printer would have the opportunity to create objects as much as 22 inches wide, he said. And the corporate has developed several metallic alloys it might probably use in 3D printing, including high-strength nickel alloys, in addition to titanium and aluminum.
While Ursa Major isn’t working on the Javelin, GMLRS or Stinger programs now, Laurienti said the corporate believes a 3D printing strategy could help close those vital programs’ production gaps. The necessity to replenish those weapons has turn into much more acute as the USA has provided 1000’s of those munitions to Ukraine to fight against Russia’s invasion since 2022.
Laurienti said Ursa Major already is under contract to make use of Lynx on one system, but couldn’t yet say what that system is. The corporate plans to announce that first system by the top of this 12 months, and a second in early 2024.
By the top of 2024, he said, Ursa Major might be using Lynx to create parts for as many as 4 systems. And Laurienti also desires to have three Lynx 3D printing cells a 12 months from now.
“It’s going to rely upon how quickly we will get them up and running,” he said.
Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.