The U.S. Army is 3D-printing drones and repairing them — will soon have the capability to make 'the vast majority' in-house
Ash Hill
Fri, June 13, 2025 at 1:01 PM EDT2 min read
Credit: Shutterstock
Threat Status, a podcast hosted by the Washington Times, recently interviewed Lieutenant General Chris Mohan, Deputy Commanding General and Acting Commander of US Army Materiel Command. It was in this conversation that we got a neat inside look at how the US Army plans to implement both 3D printing and drones into its modernization strategies.
According to Mohan, the US Army is no stranger to producing its own drones in-house. The plug-and-play nature of modern 3D printing has brought the manufacturing process closer to what Mohan describes as the tactical edge. With 3D printers deployed on the front lines, troops can now print a huge myriad of components whenever they need them most.
The files provided clarify the model of printer used to test the design and also include recommended settings to get the best results possible when printing. 3D printing a drone from scratch just requires the right file (or files). From there, it's just a matter of tweaking your g-code settings when slicing the file for printing and making sure your printer is good to go.
The implementation of 3D printing in the Army also makes it easy to replace components after a crash. Mohan suggested propellers and rotor blades as prime examples. Of course, it goes without saying that this versatility extends to a wider variety of categories outside of drone support, as individuals can print anything they might need.
https://tech.yahoo.com/computing/articles/u-army-3d-printing-drones-170115338.html
