California-based manufacturing technology firm Divergent Technologies has partnered with aerospace firm Raytheon, to modernize naval products using the Divergent Adaptive Production System (DAPS). The collaboration has delivered significant gains in production scalability and efficiency.
Barbara Borgonovi, president of Naval Power at Raytheon, said “Divergent’s innovative digital manufacturing approach has compressed a multi-year development cycle into just a few months, which is a crucial advantage as our customers face rapidly evolving threats.” She noted that the speed and agility demonstrated have strong potential for broader application across Raytheon’s portfolio.
Proven Results: From Legacy Designs to Flight-Ready Hardware
Divergent’s digital manufacturing platform enables the scalable production of aerospace-grade assemblies without the need for specialized tooling or legacy supply chains. This capability accelerates development timelines, enhances adaptability, and supports the sustainment of mission-critical systems.
Demonstrating its impact, the teams modernized a decades-old design for scalable production in under five months—despite lacking the original tooling or manufacturing infrastructure. In another project, they redesigned a legacy Raytheon effector, reducing the airframe’s part count by 80% through functionally integrated structures. This streamlined design preserved performance and survivability while improving manufacturability and simplifying assembly.
“In a matter of months, we transformed a legacy blueprint into an optimized, digital-first design that was then manufactured as flight-ready hardware using a next generation, software-defined manufacturing process,” commented Lukas Czinger, Co-Founder & CEO of Divergent. “Our team’s success has demonstrated the power that a fully integrated digital production system brings to extend the life of existing platforms and meet urgent operational needs.”
Expanding the Navy’s Additive Manufacturing Ecosystem
The Navy is intensifying its focus on 3D printing as a means to advance materials development, streamline production, and accelerate repairs. In 2025, Australian large-format Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) specialist AML3D delivered 3D printed prototype tailpiece components for the US Navy’s Virginia Class nuclear submarine program as part of the trilateral AUKUS partnership. The Copper-Nickel components, valued at approximately A$156,000, will undergo testing before being installed on a Virginia-Class nuclear submarine for in-service trials later this year. AML3D manufactured these submarine parts in less than five weeks, a significant improvement over the 17-month lead time required by conventional manufacturing methods.
The company asserts that its metal additive manufacturing technology is key to building a strong trilateral AUKUS supply chain in partnership with Australia’s allies, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
In 2024, the United States Navy leveraged metal and polymer 3D printers during the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise in Hawaii. Among the deployed technologies were a 3D cold spray system from Australian 3D printer manufacturer SPEE3D and Snowbird Technologies’ SAMM Tech hybrid DED manufacturing system. These trials were designed to evaluate how additive systems can shorten part delivery timelines from days to hours, using a comprehensive “cradle-to-grave” logistics approach to enhance operational readiness.
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Featured image shows US Naval vessels at sea. Photo via the US Naval Research Laboratory.
