Defence manufacturer Babcock has successfully delivered the first package of work for the UK Ministry of Defence’s additive manufacturing accelerator program Project TAMPA.
Project TAMPA has been set up to progress the use of additive manufacturing and increase material availability across defence. The MOD hopes the project will help to overcome the obsolescence of parts, reduce costs, and improve part performance.
Babcock was awarded with the Project TAMPA, along with NP Aerospace, RBSL, Thales and AMFG, in April 2023. Since then, their focus has been to explore if additive manufacturing can help ‘transform material availability’ across defence operations. The project comprises multiple ‘spirals’ and ‘working groups’ with the companies involved concentrating efforts on digital threads, certification and and inventory management.
The team at Babcock has been working across multiple domains to ‘deliver solutions for complex parts’, including complex components for the L118 Light Gun, a 4.5 inch gun on the Type 23 frigate, and the torpedo launch system for both the Astute and Dreadnought class submarines.
According to Babcock, the Light Gun eye shaft has been recommended for adoption into the defence inventory by MOD’s Defence Equipment & Support team and is ready to be ordered through the company’s Material Availability Service.
Kate Robinson, Managing Director Through Life Equipment Support at Babcock, said: “Delivering the first package of work for Project Tampa is a significant milestone for our customer, and by reaching this we can now move in the right direction to increase material availability across the sector. Working in a strategic and collaborative manner with key stakeholders has enabled us to explore the challenges and opportunities together to deliver the right solutions. We are now engaged in delivering the next work package, we realise now more than ever what we do matters and we are committed to supporting the UK MOD with the continued programme.”
Charlotte Robinson, UK Strategic Command Defence Support Innovation Team Leader, added: “It’s been great to see the progress made by the Babcock team on Project TAMPA’s first spiral of work. Through collaboration with the other Project TAMPA suppliers and DE&S Delivery Teams, Babcock has demonstrated that Additive Manufacturing can play a key role in improving Defence part availability.”
