Ms. Larissa Smith, Director, Advanced Manufacturing, DRPM, Maritime Industrial Base Program, U.S. Navy, and Mr. Ken Jeanos, VP, Materials and Supply Chain, General Dynamics Electric Boat, are joined by Lincoln Electric leadership and its Additive Manufacturing team to commemorate the ribbon cutting that marks the investment of four SculptPrint™ 1500 additive manufacturing cells to support the production of critical submarine components.

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The U.S. Navy’s Maritime Industrial Base (MIB) Program, General Dynamics Electric Boat, and Lincoln Electric today announced an investment to accelerate the integration of additive manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D printing, into the construction of nuclear-powered submarines.

America must deliver one Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine and two Virginia-class attack submarines each year by 2028, while sustaining the current fleet. Meeting this demand requires innovative methods to increase throughput, reduce bottlenecks, and strengthen supply chains. Additive manufacturing provides critical solutions to these challenges.

Ms. Larissa Smith, Director, Advanced Manufacturing, DRPM, Maritime Industrial Base Program, U.S. Navy addresses how new technologies, like Lincoln Electric’s SculptPrint™ additive manufacturing solution, strengthen the industrial base to meet the Navy’s mission. ____________________

Mr. Matt Sermon, Executive Director of the Maritime Industrial Base Program, noted, “The MIB Program is charged with strengthening and expanding the shipbuilding and repair capacity our nation needs for deterrence and warfighting. By investing in additive manufacturing at scale, we are helping ensure our industrial base has the tools, technologies, and resilience required to meet the Navy’s mission.” 

Through MIB Program funding, General Dynamics Electric Boat will source critical components from Lincoln Electric’s new large-scale metal additive manufacturing capability, anchored by four state-of-the-art SculptPrint™ machines. This represents Lincoln Electric’s largest government-funded AM capital investment to date, located at its advanced additive solutions facility in Cleveland.

Mr. Kirk Scheel, Director, Submarine Materials Engineering & Laboratory Services, General Dynamics Electric Boat, discusses the successful collaboration between General Dynamics Electric Boat, the Maritime Industrial Base Program/U.S. Navy, and Lincoln Electric in qualifying SculptPrint™ additive manufacturing as a solution to help accelerate the construction of nuclear-powered submarines. ____________________

“Material availability continues to drive construction delays across the submarine enterprise,” said Ken Jeanos, vice president of Supply Chain, Materials and Logistics for General Dynamics Electric Boat. “3D-printed parts have the potential to accelerate construction and delivery of submarines to the U.S. Navy by cutting lead times for critical components.”

Mr. Mike Whitehead, Lincoln Electric’s President of Americas Welding, Ms. Larissa Smith, Director, Advanced Manufacturing, DRPM, Maritime Industrial Base Program, U.S. Navy, and Mr. Ken Jeanos, VP, Materials and Supply Chain, General Dynamics Electric Boat, lead the ribbon cutting to celebrate the investment of four SculptPrint™ 1500 additive manufacturing cells to support the production of critical submarine components. ____________________

 
“This Maritime Industrial Base investment is a pivotal step to further unlock AM capabilities, enabling the defense industry to address complex supply chain challenges with innovative, efficient solutions,” added Jeanos. “This partnership expands the use of AM and other innovative technologies that Electric Boat’s engineering and procurement teams have been working on for several years.”

Steven B. Hedlund, chairman and chief executive officer of Lincoln Electric, underscored the partnership’s impact: “This investment strengthens our partnership with Electric Boat and solidifies Lincoln Electric’s commitment to delivering transformative solutions for the defense industrial base.” 

 

The Maritime Industrial Base (MIB) Program leads the U.S. Navy's effort to revitalize America's shipbuilding and repair capabilities. Established in September 2024, the program strengthens and expands the industrial base that builds and maintains surface ships, aircraft carriers and submarines vital to national defense.

Lincoln Electric is the world leader in the engineering, design, and manufacturing of advanced arc welding solutions, automated joining, assembly and cutting systems, plasma and oxy-fuel cutting equipment, and has a leading global position in brazing and soldering alloys. Lincoln is recognized as the Welding Expert™ for its leading materials science, software development, automation engineering, and application expertise, which advance customers’ fabrication capabilities to help them build a better world. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Lincoln operates 71 manufacturing and automation system integration locations across 20 countries and maintains a worldwide network of distributors and sales offices serving customers in over 160 countries. For more information about Lincoln Electric and its products and services, visit the Company’s website at https://www.lincolnelectric.com.

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