Austal USA, Mobile, Ala., entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Australian Submarine Corp. (ASC), an Australian government business enterprise, during the 2025 Indo Pacific International Maritime Exposition (INDOPAC 2025) in Sydney, Australia. The MoU marks an agreement to advance the introduction of 3D printing in Australian shipbuilding and submarine sustainment, strengthening the supply chain to support the Virginia-class and Australian Collins-class submarine programs.
“Austal USA is proud of the role we are playing in the international effort to fortify the submarine industrial base through innovations in additive manufacturing capabilities,” Austal USA President Michelle Kruger said in a prepared statement. “We recognize the importance of AUKUS and are excited to be at the forefront of this monumental collaboration of Allies partnering to defend our freedom with an impenetrable fleet of surface and subsurface naval assets.”
The MoU, signed at the Austal USA stand by Austal USA vice president business development & external affairs, Lawrence Ryder, ASC chief capability officer, Danielle Bull, and Austal Australia chief technology officer, Dr. Glenn Callow, is another indication of the significant role Austal USA is playing in integrating AM (additive manufacturing) technologies into the maritime industrial base of not only the U.S. but also Australia.
“This is another significant advance in our efforts to fully integrate the use of AM in the submarine and shipbuilding production and repair process,” said Ryder. “Signing the MoU here at INDOPAC in Sydney highlights the growing achievements of AUKUS and the expanding relationship between the U.S. and Australian industrial bases.” AUKUS is a trilateral security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States intended to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific.
Austal USA’s advanced technologies team has been at the forefront of AM adoption, operating the U.S. Navy’s Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence (AM CoE) in Danville, Va. Austal USA is responsible for developing a national network of vendors with qualified AM machines and processes to provide critical submarine parts. Austal USA is familiar with end-to-end production pathways using AM across multiple modalities and alloys. The company is using laser powder bed fusion (LPBF), wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM), wire laser additive manufacturing (WLAM) and exploring the use of cold spray additive manufacturing (CSAM).
One of the most significant challenges is ensuring additive manufacturing digital data smoothly integrates with existing Navy logistics, inventory, and quality management systems. Austal USA is developing a network that will ensure digital traceability — a digital thread built to Navy requirements — through the development of Digital-Secure Exchange for Additive (Digital – SEA), a purpose-built platform that will connect the Navy and component OEMs with AM suppliers and digital manufacturing information.
