Stratasys has secured $7.8 million in US funding to expand production-ready additive manufacturing for the defense industrial base.
Stratasys has secured $7.8 million in US funding to expand production-ready additive manufacturing for the defense industrial base.
The award comes through the 2026 America Makes and Department of Defense Organic Industrial Base Modernization Challenge, a 24-month initiative aimed at advancing manufacturing technologies that strengthen defense production and supply chain resilience.
Stratasys will use the funding to develop quality assurance capabilities for parts produced on its F3300 and F900 industrial 3D printing platforms.
This technology captures quality data during the printing process, allowing manufacturers to detect anomalies in real time and generate the documentation needed for part qualification.
America Makes said the project addresses one of the biggest obstacles to wider adoption of additive manufacturing in defense: verifying part quality consistently enough for large-scale production.
The capability is also expected to reduce inspection burdens, shorten qualification timelines, and help manufacturers expand additive production with greater confidence.
“When production teams have access to quality data during the build process, they can qualify applications with less friction, expand production capacity more efficiently, and integrate additive manufacturing more effectively into demanding production environments,” Stratasys chief business officer Rich Garrity said.
US Expands Additive Manufacturing
Stratasys' award is part of a broader US push to scale additive manufacturing across the defense industrial base.
In August, the US Air Force awarded 3D Systems an additional $9 million to continue developing a large-format metal 3D-printing system for aerospace components, extending the program's total funding to $27.4 million ahead of its final demonstration phase.
Earlier, in April, Naval Air Systems Command awarded Colibrium Additive a $31-million contract to qualify 3D-printed metal components for naval aircraft.
In February, Velo3D secured an $11.5-million production contract to manufacture complex metal parts for a national security program using its rapid, industrial-scale metal additive manufacturing technology.
