Raytheon’s Randall Fort: Contractors Boost Investments in 3-D Printing Research

Randall Fort, director of programs security at Raytheon, has told Federal News Radio defense contractors have started to increase their research investments in three-dimensional printing platforms due to potential benefits that such technologies offer.

“There will be staggering efficiencies that will come about which will mean government contractors will be able to deliver more value to government customers at faster rates because it’s much quicker to 3-D print things than to have to go through the normal manufacturing process, it’ll be cheaper,” Fort said in an interview posted Tuesday.

The former assistant state secretary for intelligence and research also advised the government to keep pace with innovation through the adoption of a more agile acquisition process with “shorter time frames.”

“Legislatively, Congress is spending a lot of time talking about acquisition reform, but I think the private sector as well as some of the government agencies are going to need to be working very hard to make sure legislators have all the information of what these technologies are and their implications,” Fort added.