The Royal Air Force has installed its first in-house additively manufactured component to an operational Typhoon fighter jet.
Wayland Additive’s Calibur3 metal additive manufacturing system has been leveraged to produce a temporary replacement part for the pylon assembly. The pylon assembly connects weapons systems to the aircraft’s wing.
Installed earlier this month, the repair part was manufactured at the Hilda B. Hewitt Centre for Innovation, by specialists from No 71 Inspection & Repair Squadron and then installed by 29 Sqn engineers. The team of engineers precision-scanned the damaged component and printed an intermediate solution, with the data being shared with the original manufacturer of the part so a permanent replacement can be developed.
“This isn’t intended as a permanent fix, but it shows where we’re heading,” said Squadron Leader John Mercer, Senior Engineering Officer at No 29 Squadron. “When aircraft are grounded waiting for spare parts, we can’t afford delays. Being able to print our own temporary components means getting jets back in the air faster.”
71 (IR) Squadron is part of the RAF Support Force. Its principal roles are to repair damaged structures on UK fixed-wing military aircraft and provide specialist inspection capabilities to RAF aircraft wherever they are deployed. The Squadron also has its own designers, who devise repair solutions in circumstances where conventional fixes may not be effective or available.
To support these efforts, the RAF installed a Wayland Additive Calibur3 machine in October 2022. Though the RAF has released limited information regarding its use of the technology over the last three years, the organisation suggested the successful development of a replacement pylon assembly part was a ‘breakthrough.’ It now opens the door to ‘wider applications across the RAF fleet’ that could ‘reduce maintenance costs and improve aircraft availability.’
“This technology offers enormous potential to maintain our aircraft faster than ever before,” Wing Commander Gemma Lonsdale, Officer Commanding Air Wing Engineering at RAF Coningsby. “The 71 Squadron team has been exceptional – their expertise and collaboration made this milestone possible.”
