US Navy and Israeli Air Force Use 3D Printers to Manufacture Drone Parts

The US Navy as well as the Israeli Air Force have been reported to use 3D printing technology to manufacture custom parts for drones.

A current project performed by researchers at the Naval Postgraduate School aims to investigate the use of 3D printing technology and modern communication for missions of the US Navy. In one of their recent tests, files containing 3D printable customised parts for a drone were e-mailed to the USS Essex. Having electronic parts as well as a 3D printer installed on board, the sailors were able to 3D print and assemble the drone. The US Navy uses these drones for missions against piracy and smuggling. With the new technology, they are now able to quickly manufacture a drone adjusted to the mission and purpose it is needed for. According to research associate Alan Jaeger, the challenge aboard a ship is logistics. So once a ship leaves the harbour, it is rather difficult to deliver additional parts to the ship, explains Jaeger in a video showing off the drone.

Also, the Israeli military is using additive manufacturing technology to produce custom parts for the Eitan drone, the largest of the Israeli Air Forces’s unmanned aerial vehicles developed by the IAI. According to Ynet, a US-made 3D printer manufactured small plastic components, that were later installed and tested on board the Eitan. At a later stage, the Air Force also plans to 3D print metal parts. One of their officers explained that, in future they could also print generators for planes or a full engine for an aircraft, with the pistons already inside.