Air Force munitions and support equipment transport operations cannot currently function at peak efficiency. The preferred munitions-loading device of Air Force support personnel, the low-profile Manually Operated Lift Truck (MOLT) MHU-194F, is long, heavy, and takes up two entire pallet footprints on its own during storage, resupply, re-arm, or re-launch missions. Branch Technology ("Branch") specializes in construction-grade 3D printing that produces lightweight and exceedingly strong composite parts. Air For personnel from the Air Force Lifecycle Management Center (AFLCMC) Support Equipment and Vehicles (SE-V) Directorate, along with HQ Air Force Material Command (AFMC) and the Air Combat Command (ACC) Agile Battle Lab, have asked Branch to investigate the applicability of its 3D printing technology to create support scaffold structures that can vertically stack multiple MOLTs - each of which weighs in excess of 2000 lbs. The proposed solution, nicknamed the MOLT Cubby Unit (MCU) will allow Air Force logistics missions to double their capacity for cargo storage, consolidate the overall number of resupply missions required, and facilitate a more agile, lean, and lethal Air Force - while simultaneously expediting the development of future technology through the first DoD productization of Branch's 3D printing capability. In place of a normal Phase I SBIR award, Branch has already conducted extensive customer discovery, preliminary research, and CAD modeling to verify that the technology could be used to create a prototype. Branch has also already identified and been in recurring contact with the Air Force end-user, customer, and additional committed stakeholders - and has had 4 concept-design review sessions with these units in preparation for this Phase II scope of work. In Phase II, Branch proposes to dive into the details of customer/user product requirements, produce a set of initial prototypes, vet the products for flight-readiness certification with the Air Transportability Testing Agency (ATTLA), and conduct an on-site demo with the end-users and all committed stakeholders - presumably at the Program Office of the AFLCMC's Support Equipment and Vehicles Directorate at Robins AFB. Branch has received assurances that success in Phase II will lead to Phase III transitional purchasing to fill this immediate capability gap for Air Force support equipment personnel.
