military

3D Printing & the Military: Advanced & Brittle

The U.S. military is currently implementing 3D printing on a significant scale, focusing on areas such as maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO), hypersonics, and strengthening the industrial base. This technology…

America Makes and NCDMM Funding Now Tops $729M for American 3D Printing and Beyond

In a significant move to advance the U.S. manufacturing sector, the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM) and America Makes have recently announced substantial ceiling increases on their…

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JStark1809: The German Soldier Behind the 3D Printed Gun Revolution

In the digital shadows of the Internet, a man known only by his online pseudonym JStark1809 carved out a notorious legacy as a 3D printed gun designer. Often photographed wearing…

Collins Aerospace Enhances 3D Printing Capabilities with $14 Million Expansion in Iowa

Collins Aerospace, a subsidiary of RTX (NYSE: RTX), formerly Raytheon, has invested $14 million into expanding its additive manufacturing (AM) center in West Des Moines, Iowa. With construction beginning a…

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China and the U.S.: How to Win the Second Cold War

Still the dominant superpower, the U.S. is nonetheless inefficient, slow to develop new military gear, and beset with issues associated with supply chain complexity and highly intricate kit. As detailed…

China and the US: The Second Cold War

As we’ve discussed in a previous article in this series, there has been increased confrontation between the U.S. and China. Mistrust and China’s technological and economic rise have resulted in…

Lockheed Martin Invests in Advanced 3D Printing Bureau Sintavia

Advanced 3D printing service Sintavia has announced a direct equity investment from Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT). Though the exact sum has not been disclosed, the investment represents the aerospace…

US Army Tasks Senvol to Research Metal 3D Printing Repeatability

One of the biggest issues in industrial additive manufacturing (AM) is differences between print jobs, parts in the same build, and on from one machine to the next, even if…

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3D Printing Experiences its First Protest at RAPID + TCT 2023

At the 2023 RAPID + TCT event, the additive manufacturing (AM) industry experienced what may have been its first protest. On Wednesday, May 3, volunteers of an anti-war organization called…

Concrete Dreams: 3D Printing for Military Construction Enables New Tactics

The US military has invested considerably in construction 3D printing. The Army in particular seems like it wants to develop recipes of local concrete mixes from all over the world,…

3D Printing News Unpeeled: Leonardo, Beamit, AiBuild

Sandvik owned Beamit makes a deal with defense firm Leonardo to do 3D Printing MRO for spare parts. A 100 parts have been qualified on at least five airframes and…

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The AM Drilldown: 4 Ps to Watch for in Q4

The end of the fiscal year has officially started, and the global economy’s trajectories seem poised to continue in 2023 on much the same volatile track they’ve been on for…

UK’s Ministry of Defence Launches Project TAMPA to Stimulate 3D Printing Applications for the Military

Last month, the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MOD) announced the official launch of Project TAMPA, a potentially seven-year-long program to increase the amount of 3D printed parts purchased by the…

HAMR Industries Brings Military 3D Printing Research to Neighborhood 91

Located at Pittsburgh International Airport, the 3D printing industrial park known as Neighborhood 91 is quickly growing. The latest resident to take up a spot is materials and manufacturing developer…

White House and AM Coalition Hold Roundtables to Advance 3D Printing

The Additive Manufacturing Coalition has begun hosting members only roundtables with members of the White House. The goal of the discussions, two of which have occurred so far, is to…

Russia, China, Europe, the US and the Rest: 3D Printing a Fractious World

If we consider geopolitics as a game of individuals, we might perceive the following: One madman contemplates his own mortality and as he withers in the mirror, he wishes to…

AMS Speaker Spotlight: Pushing the Bounds of Passive Radio Frequency with 3D Printing

Dr. Michael Shepard is Vice President of Aerospace & Defense at 3D Systems. He will be participating in Additive Manufacturing Strategies 2022, Panel 1: AM, Light-weighting and Aerospace. The demand…

3D Printing Drone Swarms, Part 9: Standing Post

As we discuss in our ongoing 3D Printing Drone Swarms series, additive manufacturing (AM) will play an increasing role in the production of all manner of semi-sentient robots. This has…

3D Printing Drone Swarms, Part 8: Armed Ground Vehicles

As we discuss in our ongoing 3D Printing Drone Swarms series, additive manufacturing (AM) will play an increasing role in the production of all manner of semi-sentient robots. This has…

US Army Robotically Delivers 3D Printed Tank Part in Project Convergence

This was followed up by a document released in June, titled “Use of Additive Manufacturing in the DoD.” The first policy listed in the June document states that “[The DoD…

US Military’s 3D Printing Cybersecurity to Be Improved with Stratasys ProtectAM Platform

As discussed in our recent 3DPrint.com PRO article, 3D printing is seeing increasing use in military applications, which is the obviously the largest sector for government spending in the U.S….

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How Additive Manufacturing is Quietly Revolutionizing the Defense Industry

During the inaugural AM Investment Strategies summit, which was held virtually this September, I was fortunate enough to speak on a panel of industry leaders about trends in additive manufacturing…

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Design for Disruption: Design for Maintenance in Space

We’ve learned that it may be interesting to think of 3D printing in terms of design for maintenance. By optimizing maintenance, lengthening maintenance intervals, and making maintenance faster or more…

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Saab Test Flies 3D Printed Replacement Part for Gripen Fighter Jet

While 3D printed spares are seeing increasing use in rail transport, it is now seeing deployment in an even more high-performance application: the repair of fighter jets. Swedish military firm…