US Army to receive thousands of cruise missiles thanks

US Army to Receive Thousands of Cruise Missiles Thanks to 3D Printing

USA to purchase LCCM rockets with X-Bow engines for the arsenal of freedom

American solid-fuel rocket engine manufacturer X-Bow has received an order from defense contractor Leidos. The company will supply boosters for the new cheap cruise missile of the US army called LCCM. This munition in a container uses the X-Bow engine to eject from the launcher and quickly accelerate to flight speed.

The key technology of X-Bow is its own 3D printing method, which solves the problem of slow and expensive production of solid-fuel engines, relevant for 50 years.

Traditional manufacturing faces difficulties: fuel is poured or pressed into specialized molds, then cured and tested for a long time. Capacities are concentrated among a few large contractors, which does not allow to quickly increase production in case of need for thousands of missiles.

X-Bow offers to print the fuel charge layer by layer according to a digital model. This requires less unique tooling, speeds up design changes and simplifies scaling of mass production. The technology turns the rocket engine from a single casting into a flexible digital manufacturing product.

Boosters will begin serial production in 2027. The project is part of the US Department of Defense initiative "Arsenal of Freedom".