ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. – U.S. Army scientists may be on the brink of a pioneering additive-manufacturing technology to help Soldiers quickly swap out broken plastic components with durable replacement parts from 3D printing. The U.S. Army reports. Continue reading original article
The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:
24 March 2020 -- In the past, troops either have lugged replacement parts around or ordered them from warehouses thousands of miles away, only to wait weeks for them to arrive.
But with dual-polymer parts from 3D printing -- developed by scientists at the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory, or ARL -- soldiers could be a few clicks away from swapping out broken pieces and heading back to the fight within hours.
"We're crossing a threshold where low-cost, easy-to-operate and maintain printers will be proliferated on the battlefield -- and able to produce engineering parts of very good quality with short turn-around times," says Dr. Eric Wetzel, ARL's research area leader for soldier materials.
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John Keller, chief editor
Military & Aerospace Electronics
