Maritime Additive manufacturing (AM) for Defense with Advanced hybrid materials for Reduced-weight hull structures. Ontwikkeling, validatie en kwaliteitsborging van Military-Grade AM voor (on)bemande systemen: van material tot operational platform
Printed ≠ validated. Validated is the prerequisite for deployable
Defence needs scalable, locally producible unmanned maritime systems. AM can deliver them. That has been proven: during Bold Machina, ten USV hulls were printed and operationally deployed in a single day. But speed is not operational reliability. A printed hull is not yet a boat, and a boat is not a USV. A USV operates at two to three times the speed of a workboat, with fundamentally different structural requirements. Today there is no validated material with military and maritime properties, and no production process that assures quality for structures exceeding 6 metres, for which no recognised certification method exists. Without that foundation, Defence remains dependent on conventional production and foreign suppliers.
The Netherlands has the machine, knowledge and material.MADAR combines them
The consortium addresses the problem in the only sequence that works: material first, then process, then design, then validation at scale. Tectonic develops the hybrid material specifically for military maritime requirements. NLR optimises the production process for structures exceeding 6 metres including the unique LEAM DEMEX technology for optimal interlayer adhesion. IMPACD validates the complete material and process protocol on its own 12m LFAM production line including LEAM DEMEX, the only active commercial maritime LFAM installation with LEAM DEMEX in the EU. The result: a fully documented material and process with demonstrable weight reduction and quality assurance, directly applicable for Defence.
From the Netherlands to Defence and beyond.
MADAR delivers validated material, a validated production process and proof of deployability, demonstrated on a platform exceeding 6 metres. The knowledge stays in the Netherlands: documented, publishable through the TO2 network and directly applicable for Defence. Because validated material and a validated process are the only foundation on which Defence can build. The result is broadly applicable beyond the USV context, in dual use: offshore, coastguard, civil maritime infrastructure and NATO partners. Next steps: scaling to 12-metre platforms, a defence validation trajectory with COMMIT, and European expansion through EDA. The Netherlands already builds AM platforms. MADAR proves they are reliable.