Naval Group: French Navy minehunter gets 3D-printed propeller navaltoday.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from navaltoday.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Photo Copyright NavalGroup
Naval Group manufactured a new-generation propeller via a metal 3D printing process, mounted on a tripartite minehunter.
This propeller is 2.5-m in diameter, supported by five 200-kg blades. The equipment left the workshops of the Naval Group site of Nantes-Indret in October 2020 for the site of Brest in order to be mounted on the ship s propeller shaft. As part of its major technical stop, the assembly was transferred to the submarine base to be mounted on the intermediate shaft of the Andromède in November. Sea trials were then performed successfully at the end of December.
A world first