QinetiQ, an integrated global defence and security company, has used additive manufacturing to supply replacement parts for Royal Navy submarine HMS Anson during a routine Submarine Maintenance Period (SMP) in Australia. It delivered the components in roughly four weeks, rather than the months or years such parts can typically take to source.
The company rapidly designed the required parts. Additive manufacturing SMEs in Perth, Western Australia, produced many of them locally. Production of the remainder took place on the country’s east coast and at QinetiQ Australia.
QinetiQ reverse engineered the parts in the UK before securely transferring the technical data to its Australian team. That team worked with local suppliers to manufacture them. Following approval by the Submarine Delivery Group’s Additive Manufacturing Team, the parts were delivered to the crew of HMS Anson and installed during the maintenance period at HMAS Stirling.
“QinetiQ’s global reach and established local engineering capability enabled us to move quickly to support HMS Anson in Australia,” said Corry Neale, Chief Executive, QinetiQ Australia. “We will continue to support AUKUS Pillar 1 activities and provide opportunities to Australian companies to be part of this internationally significant, complex supply chain.”
A broader approach to supply-chain resilience
This deployment builds directly on the supply chain story QinetiQ set out earlier this year, when it cleared a 3D-printed helicopter bracket made from recycled titanium for flight at MOD Boscombe Down. That project, developed with AMS Ltd., was about feedstock and sovereignty. Recycling scrap into qualified powder aimed to reduce UK dependency on imported aerospace-grade titanium.
Rather than reducing reliance on a single material source, the HMS Anson work shows how distributed, on-demand production can compress sustainment timelines for high-value platforms operating far from home.
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