U.S. Navy Integrates Additive Manufacturing Into Fleet

In 2025 the U.S. Navy transformed additive manufacturing from experimental to operational, deploying metal and polymer 3D-printed parts across carriers and Virginia-class submarines. By cutting production lead times by roughly 70%, reducing testing requirements over 60%, and adopting MIL-PRF-32802/32803/32804 standards, NAVSEA and industry partners accelerated certification and strengthened distributed manufacturing for improved fleet readiness.