A watch-and-read pick: the embedded video plus the original write-up together give one of the archive's more complete looks at 3d printed parts.
Inside the Pentagon’s 3D Printing Revolution — and the Rising Geopolitical Storms It Must Navigate The U.S. Army is no longer just a warfighting machine — it's becoming a mobile, self-sustaining, on-demand manufacturing force , powered by 3D printing, artificial intelligence, and next-gen drone delivery. But as military modernization accelerates, so too do the geopolitical threats facing America from the Middle East to the Pacific.
On a recent episode of The Threat Status Podcast , Lieutenant General Chris Mohan — Deputy Commanding General and Acting Commander of U.S. Army Materiel Command — pulled back the curtain on the Army’s transformation and the battlefield technologies quietly reshaping modern warfare.
Here's why the Army wants to 3D print drones
How the Army Is Using 3D Printing to Fight Tomorrow’s Wars “ We’re 3D printing drones. We’re printing parts in the field. And we’re just getting started, ” said Gen. Mohan.
Drones Printed at Rock Island Arsenal : The Army is currently 3D printing Group 1 UAS drones (under 55 lbs) using "best of breed" design files shared across military units.
Electronics Assembled at Tobyhanna Depot : Those 3D-printed frames are shipped to Pennsylvania, where components are integrated and microelectronics are also being 3D printed.
Tactical Edge Manufacturing : Field brigades now have mobile machining units with small 3D printers. Replacement drone parts — like rotor blades and control arms — can be printed and deployed on the battlefield via drone delivery.
These changes represent a massive shift from traditional supply chain logistics. “ In a future battlefield, a drone is going to be like a bullet — cheap, disposable, and constantly replenished from mobile printers, ” said Mohan.
Why This Matters in the Indo-Pacific Theater Moving gear across oceans is exponentially harder than over land — and the Army knows it.
“Europe has highways. We’ve got alliances. In the Pacific, it’s bilateral partnerships, long flight times, and a maritime chessboard.”
In other words, future conflict with China means the U.S. will need to pre-position supplies , rapidly manufacture parts at sea or on islands , and deploy equipment instantly across vast distances — all of which 3D printing helps solve.
Telemaintenance & AI: The New Digital Arsenal The Ukraine war served as a testbed for telemaintenance. When Ukrainian troops couldn’t fix donated U.S. weapons, they started calling American liaison officers — and that evolved into daily encrypted video chats with U.S. engineers.
Now, the U.S. Army is going one step further:
AI-driven Chatbot Maintenance : Soldiers will soon be guided by virtual assistants that analyze equipment faults, suggest fixes, and even troubleshoot radar systems in real-time.