More and more U.S. warship and submarine parts are being 3D-printed—and now the Navy is going after the “really hard problems,” a top official says. “I could go anywhere in the Navy ...

The US Navy has 3D printed a prototype submersible hull at the Oak Ridge National Lab in Tennessee. It could be in service by 2019. The departments of Defense and Energy collaborated on the project.

The 3D printed body angles the motors slightly downwards, so when the submarine is moving forward it’s also being pulled deeper into the water. There aren’t any control surfaces either ...