The First 3D Printed Part In A Military AWACS Aircraft Is Approved

While the part is not that spectacular, the approval is a very big step for 3D printing in military engineering.

The Boing E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircrafts are in service for a long time and maintaining the aircrafts got difficult. Now the 552nd Maintenance Squadron Fabrication Flight got a Stratasys Fortus 400mc FDM 3D printer and much better the approval for their first 3D printed replacement part – an end cap for seat armrests.

Even I started smiling when I read the news.

As the press release states the part isn´t crucial to keeping the battle management platforms flying, but a very big milestone for additive manufacturing in the maintenance of military airplanes.

Taking advantage of the 3-D printer’s production-grade capabilities, the flight has also developed a new way to make replacement air duct brackets used inside the E-3’s wings. The new method will save an estimated $540,960 a year, said Staff Sgt. Ryan McBride, assistant shopkeeper with the 552nd Maintenance Squadron’s metals technology section.

Sergeant McBride:

“We were able to take an eight hour job that sheet metal was doing start to finish and with our new technology we’re down to an hour and 30 minutes per bracket. We’re saving weekends for some people.

We’re actually making a part that had zero in stock, and we’re refilling the supply system worldwide because of the stuff that we’ve just created with a 3-D printer and a water jet.”

Captain Danielle Ackerman, the 552nd MXS operations officer, sees how this technology unfolds so many new possibilities:

“That’s the best part of it for me. It’s not just this one invention. It’s the mindset that has spread through this flight and it starts with someone like Sergeant McBride who got excited about the 3-D printer and started playing with it.”