The US Navy has equipped its Schoolhouse in Danville, Virginia, with 24 hybrid and additive manufacturing systems to train sailors enrolled in the Afloat Training Program.
Phillips Corporation’s Federal Division delivered the equipment, with BlueForge Alliance, the Navy’s procurement and program management partner, handling the buy. What makes the installation notable is less the hardware and more the intent behind it. The Navy is training sailors to manufacture and repair components closer to the point of need, and the Danville facility now carries the equipment to teach them how.
Twelve of the 24 systems are Phillips Hybrid Manufacturing Systems, each built on a Haas TM-1P CNC platform with Meltio’s Directed Energy Deposition (DED) technology layered in. The machines deposit metal using a laser-wire process and then machine it to tolerance in the same setup, so an operator can fabricate a new part or restore a worn one without switching stations. The remaining twelve are Markforged X7 composite printers for producing tooling, fixtures, prototypes, and replacement components from durable composite materials.
Bobby Keithley, Vice President of Sales & Product Strategy, Phillips Federal said, “By training sailors on the same hybrid and additive systems they will encounter aboard ship, the Navy is accelerating readiness, improving sustainment outcomes, and strengthening its advanced manufacturing workforce.”
Preparing Sailors for Shipboard Manufacturing
This combination gives Danville a training floor that mirrors what the Navy has been putting on ships and at shore facilities. The Schoolhouse is owned by Naval Sea Systems Command and operated alongside the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research, and with this equipment in place, sailors can now train on the same platforms they will encounter once deployed.
Phillips Federal already has operational credibility here. Sailors aboard USS Bataan used a Haas TM-1P with Meltio DED to fabricate a stainless steel sprayer plate for a deballasting air compressor entirely at sea, avoiding a return to port. Putting 12 of the same platform type into a classroom means the Navy wants sailors arriving on ships already familiar with that workflow.
BlueForge Alliance worked with Phillips Federal to execute the procurement and deliver what the Navy has described as a standardized, production-ready solution aligned with fleet sustainment and workforce development goals.
The underlying problem driving all of this is not hard to identify. The Navy’s supplier base for legacy cast and forged components has contracted sharply since the 1980s shipbuilding peak. Additive manufacturing can fill some of those gaps, but the technology is only useful if trained operators are available where the equipment is. Danville is where the Navy is building that operator base, 24 machines at a time.
Where Workforce Meets Fleet Demand
The operational case for that kind of preparedness keeps getting stronger. During RIMPAC 2026, sailors aboard USS Essex used onboard hybrid manufacturing systems to produce replacement parts at sea, including components for equipment where original manufacturers no longer exist. Gunnery Sgt. Samuel Margarini, the NCO in charge of the 3D printing team aboard Essex, said the capability lets the crew solve problems without waiting on the supply chain. That is the scenario Danville is training sailors for.
The Danville campus itself has already produced evidence of what happens when that training connects to fleet demand. The Navy’s Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence, co-located at the same IALR site, printed a replacement bracket for USS Halsey’s helicopter hangar door in just over two weeks after traditional procurement quoted a 40-week lead time. The ship was set to deploy in 30 days. Jason Wells, EVP of Manufacturing Advancement at IALR, said that without the printed part, the destroyer would have sat idle or been forced to cannibalize another vessel.
The equipment sitting in Danville today does not, on its own, solve the Navy’s sustainment problem. But it does address the bottleneck that sits upstream of every shipboard printer and every shore-based manufacturing cell. A hybrid CNC system aboard a destroyer is worth nothing if nobody on the crew can operate it. Twenty-four training machines in Virginia suggest the Navy sees the operator pipeline as a prerequisite for the hardware rollout.
3D Printing Industry is inviting speakers for its 2026 Additive Manufacturing Applications (AMA) series, covering Energy, Healthcare, Automotive and Mobility, Aerospace, Space and Defense, and Software. Each online event focuses on real production deployments, qualification, and supply chain integration. Practitioners interested in contributing can complete the call for speakers form here.
To stay up to date with the latest 3D printing news, don’t forget to subscribe to the 3D Printing Industry newsletter or follow us on LinkedIn.
Explore the full Future of 3D Printing and Executive Survey series from 3D Printing Industry, featuring perspectives from CEOs, engineers, and industry leaders on the industrialization of additive manufacturing, 3D printing industry trends 2026, qualification, supply chains, and additive manufacturing industry analysis.
Featured image shows Meltio hybrid DED metal additive manufacturing system integrated in a CNC Haas machine. Photo via Meltio.
