The 2nd Marine Logistics Group has developed “HANX,” a 3D-printed drone that is considered NDAA-compliant for the first time within the Marine Corps and has completed the NAVAIR process for provisional flight clearance. The system was created in around 90 days at the Innovation Campus at Camp Lejeune—produced in-house, designed to be modular, and significantly more cost-effective than commercially procured platforms.
“This was only possible because of the collaboration with the team around me,” said Henry David Volpe. “I’d give out different drone parts and say, ‘Hey, can you redesign this for me?’ Or ‘I need 20 of these printed.’ I designed it, but I didn’t work on it alone. You never do anything alone, whether that’s in combat or not,” said Volpe.
The starting point was the realization that commercially available drones are often closed systems with limited modifiability and do not always meet the requirements of the National Defense Authorization Act. To reduce dependence on external supply chains, the 2nd Marine Logistics Group relied on additive manufacturing using FDM 3D printing. Load-bearing and functional housing components were designed, printed, and tested in multiple iterations. CAD-based development processes made it possible to quickly modify geometries and adapt components to different mission profiles.
“Anyone can create a cheap drone using cheap non-approved parts; however, finding parts that don’t run the risk of having backdoor software is difficult,” said Volpe.
“I was doing a ton of research, finding different manufacturers and then messaging them, trying to get a hold of people and talk with them about what they’re selling, and making sure that it is within NDAA standards,” said Volpe.
Alongside mechanical development, the selection of electronics played a central role. All critical components had to be NDAA-compliant to avoid risks from unverified firmware or unwanted data leakage. Coordination with the relevant certification bodies, including within the NAVAIR environment, ultimately led to flight clearance under adapted approval procedures. This makes the drone intended for training and operational testing within the Marine Corps.
“Some explosive ordnance disposal Marines, are about to buy 20 of these, and they’re going to be strapping explosives to it,” said Volpe, “The drone is cheap and easy to change, making it easier to be utilized for a variety of missions throughout the military, compared to all of the drones bought through contractors where we aren’t allowed to modify them.”
“When I first started working with 3D printing, I never could have imagined the technology would advance enough to enable anyone to be able to 3D print a drone,” said Volpe. “But seeing myself design and make one for the Marine Corps, a year ago I wouldn’t have thought that was possible.”
The insights gained are now being incorporated into training concepts to teach Marines fundamental skills in 3D printing and system integration.
“Volpe’s put over 1000 hours in this Innovation Campus workspace,” said Pine. “He’s very knowledgeable. He dives in deep whenever he’s learning something new. He is a motor transport mechanic, and he made the first drone approved for flight. That should tell you enough about how driven he is to make things successful.”
The project illustrates how 3D printing is evolving from a pure prototyping tool into a building block of military maintenance and further development. For the 2nd Marine Logistics Group, this approach opens up new opportunities to deploy technical systems more quickly and adapt them to operational requirements.
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