Australian 3D printer manufacturer AML3D has commissioned two large-scale ARCEMY X metal additive manufacturing (AM) systems at Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS), finalizing an initial approximately AU$4.5 million (approx. US$3.2 million) order. NNS is a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), which builds nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and submarines for the U.S. Navy.
On completion, NNS will make a final payment of approximately AU$892,000. Each of the two systems incorporates a 10,886 kg positioner, enabling heavy-capacity metal AM builds across a range of shipbuilding applications.
Six ARCEMY X Systems Headed to Newport News
NNS has placed a second order, valued at approximately AU$9.9 million, for four additional custom ARCEMY X systems, scheduled for delivery in early 2027 from AML3D’s manufacturing hub in Stow, Ohio. NNS plans to use all six systems to reduce component lead times and supplement traditional manufacturing processes.
The Stow facility is currently undergoing a capacity expansion to meet growing demand from the U.S. Marine Industrial Base (MIB). AML3D is doubling output at the site, with the U.S. Navy’s procurement targets for the coming years cited as the primary driver.
CEO Comments on U.S. and International Expansion
AML3D CEO Sean Ebert said, “The strong and growing demand we are seeing from the US MIB is a ringing endorsement of AML3D’s U.S. scale up strategy.”
Ebert added that similar demand signals are emerging in other defense markets. AML3D holds existing UK defense contracts and is planning to establish a European manufacturing hub to serve the U.S., UK, and Australia, the three AUKUS signatories. The company also cited non-defense industrial manufacturing across those markets as a separate growth area.
Scaling Metal AM Across the U.S. Naval Industrial Base
U.S. naval shipbuilding has faced persistent pressure to reduce shipbuilding lead times, with legacy manufacturing lead times for some naval components running between six months and two years. AM has drawn interest as a way to produce certified parts closer to the point of need, helping address supply chain bottlenecks and long procurement cycles.
AML3D has been building its U.S. presence incrementally, placing ARCEMY systems across multiple Navy-affiliated sites ahead of the NNS contract.
In mid-2025, the U.S. Navy issued a Letter of Intent to AML3D forecasting procurement of approximately 1,600 AM components annually by 2030 and installation of up to 100 large-format metal 3D printers across the MIB, the demand signal that underpins AML3D’s current capacity doubling at Stow.
In May 2026, AML3D and Austal USA completed installation of a containerized ARCEMY system at the U.S. Navy’s Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence in Danville, Virginia, bringing Austal USA’s total ARCEMY fleet at that facility to three systems. The NNS deployment of six systems represents a further step in that expansion.
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Featured image shows installed at Newport News Shipbuilding. Photo via AML3D.
