air force
3D Printing 1987: Pratt & Whitney Gets its First 3D Printer
AMUG DiNO Jim Harrison, a Technical Sales Representative at nScrypt, has been in the 3D printing industry since its inception. In this series on the history of additive manufacturing, Jim…
Horizon Aircraft VTOL Prototype Takes Flight with 780 3D Printed Parts
As surprising it may seem to some tech skeptics, the emerging world of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aerial vehicles is, well, beginning to take off. You’ve likely seen footage…
3D Printing News Unpeeled: Novineer, Desktop Engraving for Circuits and the US Air Force
A US Air Force maintenance unit shows a pragmatic approach to implementing 3D printing for MRO and tooling in the military. The 809th Maintenance Support Squadron´s RAPID, or Reverse Engineering,…
Laser Wars: SLM Solutions Announces Order for Massive NXG XII 600E Metal 3D Printer
SLM Solutions (AM3D.DE) previously announced that it would collaborate with military research organization Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC) to build a large metal printer for the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). The resulting…
US Air Force Opens Metal 3D Printing Lab with GE
The Pacer Edge program underway by the U.S. Air Force (USAF) and General Electric (GE) is making steady progress, most recently demonstrated by the opening of a second Reverse Engineering…
US Air Force Funds Blue Laser Firm NUBURU to Make 100X Speed Metal 3D Printer
Blue laser specialist NUBURU is quickly increasing its foothold in the additive manufacturing (AM) space. In addition to receiving a series of patents and establishing a partnership for copper 3D…
US Air Force Explores Hypersonics 3D Printing at Arnolds Base
Hypersonics are a growing sector that hopes to launch missiles at speeds not just faster than sound, but even faster than that. To reach speeds beyond Mach 5, oxygen dispersion…
US Space Force Awards Launcher $1.7M Contract for 3D Printed Rocket Engines
It’s a whirlwind ride for up-and-coming startups in the booming private space industry. According to a Space Capital report, there have been $252.9 billion in cumulative global equity investments into…
US Air Force Taps GE and Optomec for Metal 3D Printing
The Biden administration recently announced a slew of new opportunities for increasing the adoption of additive manufacturing (AM) across the U.S. Initial participating companies of the AM Forward program are…
Optomec Receives $500K Contract from USAF for Additive Repair of Jet Engine Components
Metal and electronics 3D printing solutions provider Optomec was awarded a $1 million contract from the US Air Force in late 2020 to create and install a high-volume additive repair…
US Army to Use Senvol Machine Learning for Qualification of 3D Printed Missile Parts
Senvol is building itself out to be a critical part of 3D printing infrastructure. Bit by bit, the company is making itself indispensable especially to the U.S. defense community. It…
America Makes Project Call: 3D Printed Optical Components to Support US Air Force
Ohio-based America Makes, a top collaborative partner in the US for 3D printing technology discovery, innovation, and research, just announced its latest Project Call – Additive for eXtreme Improvement in…
On-Demand Surgical Retractor 3D Printed by the U.S. Air Force
The U.S. Department of Defense is using even more of its mind-boggling budget on additive manufacturing (AM) for virtual inventory and on-demand spare parts. This time, the world’s most dangerous…
US Air Force Base in Utah Creating 3D Printed Replacement Parts for F-35 Fighter Jets
The US military has not shied away from implementing modern manufacturing methods such as 3D printing, but has actually embraced the technology. In fact, the US Air Force has used…
Air Force Uses 3D Printing to Save Thousands of Dollars…On Cups
It’s remarkable that something so small as a cup handle could be responsible for saving thousands of dollars, but cases like these are seen all the time – often in…
Air Force Saves Millions of Dollars with a Few 3D Printed Parts
It’s amazing how much money can be saved just by using 3D printing to modify items in small ways, and this is evident especially frequently in the military, where something…
Air Force and HRL Laboratories Study 3D Printed Ceramics for Hypersonic Flight
The Air Force has been researching additive manufacturing for military purposes for quite some time, with resources for both plastic and metal 3D printing. Now the Air Force is looking…
The Next “Mother of All Bombs” May Be Smaller, Lighter and 3D Printed
Last month, the United States dropped a 21,600 pound bomb on a remote area of Afghanistan, attacking a tunnel complex used by Islamic State militants. The Massive Ordnance Air Blast,…
Air Force Institute of Technology Welcomes Metal 3D Printing with Acquisition of Concept Laser M2 Cusing Machine
The Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is no newcomer to 3D printing; the school has been using the technology to build polymer prototypes for more…
South African Air Force Finds Advantages in 3D Printing
This week, the South African Air Force (SAAF) held its annual Prestige Day Parade at the Air Force Base Waterkloof and named as its most prestigious unit the Air Force…
Air Force Research Laboratory’s Materials and Manufacturing Directorate Continue to Explore the Benefits and Challenges of Additive Manufacturing
I am an incredibly proud resident of Dayton, Ohio, born and raised in the Gem City. Not only did the Wright Brothers live and develop the first powered, heavier-than-air aircraft…
Reaction Systems Wins Two-Year, $750K SBIR Contract Extension Thanks to Additive Manufacturing Expertise from ADAPT Consortium and Faustson Tool
The Alliance for the Development of Additive Processing Technologies (ADAPT), a research and development consortium based out of Colorado that’s dedicated to developing advanced additive manufacturing technologies, gives a leg…
Brazilian Air Force Uses Stratasys 3D Printers to Manufacture Aircraft Components
The Instituto de Estudos Avançados (IEAv), the Brazilian Air Force’s Institute of Advanced Studies, has partnered with 3D printer manufacturer Stratasys to efficiently create robust aircraft components that are on par…
Israeli Air Force Keeps Their Old Planes Active With 3D Printing Technology
Although 3D printing is a relatively new technology within the military-industrial complex, it has impacted Israel’s aerospace developments in a great number of ways. Last year, the Israeli military had 3D printed their…
