The Bundeswehr, which is repeatedly criticized for its poor state of equipment, is now providing spare parts on site as a test Frigate Saxony here. In a test lasting several days on the North Sea, it is to be checked whether machine and equipment parts produced by FDM printing can also be produced in sufficient quality under the special conditions of a warship.
Manufacturing parts using 3D printing, which is already routine in the automotive and railway industries as well as in aerospace (e.g. at Airbus), is much more difficult on ships because of the conditions prevailing there: the salt content of the air and the ship movements as well Vibrations from the drive often have a disruptive effect. On the other hand, using the ships, which are very powerful with more than 53,000 HP, is extremely expensive for the German Armed Forces. Aborting a mission and prematurely returning to the supply of spare parts due to a lack of spare parts would drastically increase this.
