U.S. Army begins production of 3D printed tactical drones

The U.S. Army has begun 3D printing its own tactical drones for special operations, enabling faster deployment of customizable and easily repairable aircraftThe initial production experiment will see one hundred 3D printed drones built.

3D printed tactical drones

The Army’s 101st Airborne Division has started to develop and build its own 3D printed drones in collaboration with 5th Special Forces Group and EagleWerx at the Applied Tactical Innovation Center in Fort Campbell.

Col. Travis McIntosh (promotable), deputy commanding officer for support of the 101st Airborne Division shared, “This is bigger than simply printing parts. We are reshaping the sUAS enterprise at the tactical level,” and will impact, “how we do small UAS in the division, from air worthiness to parts ordering, to fielding and training.”

The production line was spun up after feedback from soldiers asking for more versatile, durable and expendable systems that what is currently on the market. This would allow soldiers to quickly re-print parts rather than having to wait for replacements or be required to ship units away to get repaired.

For now, the drones will be built from scratch, while the ground control stations will be purchased from a third-party at the fraction of today’s off-the-shelf systems.

A lot of the soldiers are excited to start operating with the new drone systems and have already been providing feedback on the design and software based on their experience with previous drone models.

A solider familiar with all the previously deployed drone systems has already put the drone to test and was surprised with its performance in during the little testing done.

Capt. Andrew Blomquist, the 2nd Mobile Brigade Combat Team innovation officer added, “We have done multiple Soldier touch points, demos, and flight tests so luckily, we have already received great end user feedback. One Soldier in particular that has experience with all of the previously fielded sUAS was surprised with its performance.”

The exact specs or name of the drone is currently unknown, but we can tell it features an RGB and thermal sensor package mounted to a gimbal and looks to take on a similar shape and size to the X10 from Skydio and Mavic from DJI.

The features easily accessible screws for easy repairs and upgrades down the line with what look to be fairly easy and quick to print parts.

Once ready to go, the drones will be put to use in an upcoming division training exercise, called Operation Lethal Eagle. It will go on for 21 days and is a “rigorous training exercise” that is designed to “prototype Army initiatives, train unit lethality and build mastery of large-scale, long-range air assault capabilities throughout the Division.”

Source and photos courtesy of the U.S. Army.