U.S. Marines bring advanced manufacturing to the front lines during Valiant Shield 26

U.S. Marine Corps Pfc. Kaden Hicks, an automotive maintenance technician with Intermediate Repair Company, 3rd Maintenance Battalion, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, sprays a stator housing for an Evinrude boat motor using cold spray technology during Valiant Shield 26 on Camp Kinser, Okinawa, Japan, June 22, 2026. Intermediate Repair Company participated in Resilient Advanced Manufacturing for Contested Environments, or RAMFORCE, an initiative hosted by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. The innovative event brought together military personnel, government laboratories, and private industry to evaluate how advanced manufacturing technologies could enable expeditionary forces to repair, replace and even produce critical equipment at the point of need.