“Why weld when you can laser?” That could well be the unspoken motto behind Huntington Ingalls Industries’ latest move at Newport News Shipbuilding, where the company has become the first U.S. shipyard to acquire Nikon SLM Solutions’ NXG 600E metal additive manufacturing system. The decision has marked a significant inflection point in naval shipbuilding, as for the first time it has combined defense-grade manufacturing precision with the scale required for nuclear-powered warships.
The NXG 600E is no ordinary industrial printer. Engineered as a large-volume, multi-laser platform, it boasts a removable build cylinder and twelve 1 kW lasers that are capable of producing parts up to 600 x 600 x 1,500 mm. Build rates can approach 1,000 cubic centimeters per hour, with the ability to quickly fabricate performance-critical components. For shipyards working on nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and submarines, this capability directly points toward shorter production cycles and less reliance on complex, multi-tiered supply chains.
Hamid Zarringhalam, chief executive officer of Nikon Advanced Manufacturing and chairman of Nikon SLM Solutions, underlined the strategic dimension of the deal: “This latest NXG 600E order underscores the strategic importance of metal additive manufacturing to U.S. Navy shipbuilding programs, and marks another milestone in Nikon AM’s holistic approach towards scaling the defense industrial base on U.S. shores. We are proud to strengthen our relationship with HII and the Navy to deliver the AM capabilities that are imperative to national security.”
The Virginia-based Newport News Shipbuilding is the largest military shipbuilder in the United States, with over 44,000 employees and a 135-year heritage of delivering advanced naval capabilities. Its portfolio includes designing, building, and refueling nuclear-powered carriers and submarines, and working in unmanned systems, cyber technologies, artificial intelligence, and synthetic training solutions. Projects undertaken by the yard have built and maintained more than 800 vessels for the U.S. Navy and for commercial concerns.
The implementation of the NXG 600E at Newport News complements and supports the U.S. Navy’s greater effort to update shipbuilding via the MIB Program. Previous work by Nikon AM under the auspices of the MIB has included qualifying copper-nickel alloys for additive manufacturing, a material highly valued for its anti-corrosion properties in saltwater. Most notably, Newport News engineers built a CuNi deck drain assembly additively for a Virginia-class submarine, Oklahoma (SSN 802), showcasing how certified 3D-printed parts are able to take down lead times for critical components.
These are not standalone developments. There are similar moves in the parallel field of defense manufacturing, including Velo3D’s agreement with Linde AMT to provide domestically manufactured CuNi 70-30 powder for ship piping and cooling systems to ensure ITAR-compliant production for Navy and MIB projects. Similarly, AML3D’s ARCEMY X has been installed close to the Navy’s Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence in Danville, Virginia, to speed up large-format metal parts production for the defense segment.
For Newport News Shipbuilding, the NXG 600E’s arrival is part of a longer trajectory in additive manufacturing adoption. As early as 2019, the yard delivered its first 3D-printed metal part-a piping assembly-for installation on the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75), following NAVSEA’s approval of technical standards for such components. That milestone paved the way for today’s more ambitious integration of ultra-large format systems into nuclear shipbuilding workflows. The NXG 600E is also a strategic asset, rather than simply just a production tool, due to its defense-grade nature. This would be a system that decreases reliance on third-party suppliers by allowing for the in-house fabrication of complex geometries. Such systems reduce risks associated with global supply chain disruptions. In industries where some parts may take several months or even years to get, being able to produce accredited components in your own business is a game-changer, operationally. Installation of the NXG 600E to come at Newport News will see HII placed firmly at the leading edge of industrial-scale metal additive manufacturing in the U.S. naval sector, further reinforcing its role as a cornerstone of the nation’s nuclear shipbuilding industrial base.