“If you are a supplier, and your lead time is too long, and you refuse to work with us” on 3D printing alternative spare parts, said Rear Adm. Jon Rucker, “we're going to figure it out. Not a threat – a fact of life.”
In total, the Navy has awarded BlueForge roughly $1.3 billion in work associated with boosting the submarine industrial base.
Government can’t stop to update systems, so modernization has to happen without interruptions.
The Texas-based non-profit quickly made a name for itself by running ads for its BuildSubmarines.com website on major sports and entertainment events.
A Navy official recently said the service had spent at least $200 million on a partnership with a non-profit company to help cultivate the submarine industrial base.