Why Is The U.S. Air Force Waiting A Year And A Half For Parts?

C-5 Galaxy tails on the flightline frame a C-5 on final approach to Westover Air Reserve Base. Master Sgt. Andrew Biscoe

Defense One: US Air Force Is Waiting a Year for Parts That It Could 3D-Print

Its chief weapons buyer is mulling licensing arrangements to allow third-party manufacture.

Someday, the military will 3D-print missiles as needed, the U.S. Air Force’s acquisition chief says. In the shorter term, he just wants to use additive manufacturing technology to get broken planes back in the air. The roadblock is legal, not technical.

“I have airplanes right now that are waiting on parts that are taking a year and a half to deliver. A year and a half,” Will Roper, the assistant Air Force secretary for acquisition, technology and logistics, said in an interview.

Today’s 3D-printers could make short work of those deliveries, but some of those parts’ original manufacturers control the intellectual property — and so far, the service lacks clear policy for dealing with that.

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WNU Editor: If 3D-printers can solve the parts problem .... the question then has to be asked .... why are contractors not using them. Why mulling licensing arrangements to third parties.

How 3D Printing Will Revolutionize The Military

Image via Wikimedia Commons.

T.X. Hammes, War On The Rocks: 3-D Printing Will Disrupt The World In Ways We can barely Imagine

In the last few years, additive manufacturing, also known as 3-D printing, has transformed from an interesting hobby to an industry producing a wide range of products. It is on the path to causing major disruptions in global trade — and changing the international security environment. The explosion of additive manufacturing means it is virtually impossible to provide an up-to-date list of materials that can be printed, but a recent top ten list includes: metals, such as stainless, bronze, steel, gold, nickel steel, aluminum, and titanium; carbon fiber and nano-tubes; stem cells; ceramics; and food. Researchers are exploring the application of 3-D printing to fields from agriculture and biology to design and manufacturing. MIT developed a $7,000 multi-material printer than can print ten materials in the same object during a single fabrication process. As businesses learn to use these multi-material printers, the range of products they will be able to print will expand exponentially.

WNU Editor: The part of this report that caught my attention was its analysis on the implications for the military (and it is a must read) ....

.... The implications of additive manufacturing for the battlefield are immense. Researchers at the University of Virginia have 3-D-printed a drone in a single day and by adding an Android phone made it autonomous — all for $2,500. Using artificial intelligence available today, such a drone could identify a distinct object such as an aircraft or fuel truck using on board multi-spectral imaging before engaging it with an explosively formed projectile. In short, autonomous, cheap weapons systems will range for miles, hunting and engaging specific targets. Think of them as IEDs that hunt you. If aspirations for greater printing speed are met, a factory with only 100 printers and sufficient raw materials could produce 10,000 such autonomous drones a day. The implications for ground forces are obvious — thousands of drone strikes on vehicles, ammunition dumps, fuel trucks, and other soft targets. This threat will not be limited to short-range drones. Long-range air and undersea autonomous drones are being produced today, and manufacturers are competing hard to reduce the price. Thus naval and air forces will also be at risk from cheap, smart, long-range weapons.

Is 3D Printing About To Revolutionize War And Foreign Policy

AFP: 3D printing could revolutionise war and foreign policy

My Comment: We are still at the beginning stage of this "revolution" .... but then again .... who would have though a few years ago that 3D printing would be capable of making most of the the critical components in a gun.

The British Military Embraces 3D Printing

UK fighter jets have flown for the first time with parts made using 3D printing technology

Now You Can Print Your Own TORNADO! RAF Fighter Jets Fly For The First Time Using Parts Made With A 3D Printer -- Daily Mail

* BAE Systems said metal components were successfully used on the company's flight from airfield in Warton, Lancashire, late last month
* Engineers are using 3D technology to design and produce parts which could cut RAF's maintenance and service bill by £1.2m over four years
* 3D printing has been hailed as the future of manufacturing, but is also controversial owing to the production of guns in the United States

UK fighter jets have flown for the first time with parts made using 3D printing technology.

BAE Systems said the metal components were successfully used on board Tornado aircraft which flew from the defence firm's airfield at Warton, Lancashire, late last month.

The company said its engineers are using 3D technology to design and produce parts which could cut the Royal Air Force's maintenance and service bill by over £1.2 million over the next four years.

Read more ....

My Comment:  This is the future for manufacturing .... for both military and non-military products.

The U.S. Government Takes Aim At 3D Plastic Guns

Holder Takes Aim At 3-D Guns, Calls For Renewal Of Metal Detection Law -- FOX News

Calling 3-D plastic guns an “extremely serious problem,” Attorney General Eric Holder called on Congress to renew a law that requires all firearms to be subject to metal detection.

The Undetectable Firearms Act, a law first enacted in 1988 and then reauthorized in 2003, makes it illegal to “manufacture, import, sell, ship, deliver, possess, transfer or receive” any firearm that’s undetectable by scanners. But the law is set to expire Dec. 9, unless Congress again reauthorizes it. Holder said the new technology of printing 3-D guns made of plastic means guns could potentially be smuggled onto planes, into federal buildings or at large public events.

“This is an extremely serious problem,” Holder said in a statement. “This is a very worrisome threat to law enforcement and to people who fly every day. We can’t have guns legally in circulation that are not detectable by metal detectors.”

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Update: 3D plastic guns: US lawmakers seek ban on national security grounds -- RT

My Comment: As 3D Printing continues to take off .... I have trouble seeing how the government will be able to regulate this technology.

World's First 3D-Printed Gun Made From 30 METAL Components Is Successfully Created

World's First 3D-Printed Gun Made From 30 METAL Components Is Created – And It Has Already Fired 50 Rounds Successfully -- Daily Mail

* The weapon was made using a 'laser sintering process' and powdered metals and based on a 'classic' 1911 design
* Texas-based company Solid Concepts, claims the pistol 'handles beautifully' and has already handled 50 rounds of successful firing
* The company said it made the weapon to prove that 3D printing is a viable solution that can be used in modern manufacturing

A U.S. company has manufactured and tested the world's first 3D-printed metal gun.

The weapon was made using a 'laser sintering process' and powdered metals and based on a 'classic' 1911 design.

The 3D printing specialists behind the weapon claim it 'functions beautifully' and has already handled 50 rounds of successful firing.

Read more ....

More News On The Successful Creation Of The World's First 3D-Printed Gun Made From 30 METAL Components

Want a 3-D printed metal gun? All you need is a million bucks -- NBC
Texas company makes metal gun with 3-D printer -- CNN
Texas firm makes world’s first 3D-printed metal gun -- FOX News
First metal 3D printed gun is capable of firing 50 shots -- The Guardian
Solid Concepts unveils first 3D-printed metal gun, a full-size .45 ACP 1911 (VIDEO) -- Guns.com
The world’s first 3D printed metal gun is a beautiful .45 caliber M1911 pistol -- Extreme Tech
World’s first 3D-printed metal gun successfully fires over 50 rounds -- The Verge
World's first 3D-printed metal gun blows through 50 rounds -- Computer World
Now There's A 3D-Printed Gun Made Out Of Metal, And We're Doomed -- Huffington Post
There Is Nothing Less Scary Than This 3D-Printed Metal Gun -- Atlantic Wire
Don't Freak Out, but the First 3D-Printed Metal Gun Totally Works -- The Atlantic

Why 3D Printing Will Be A Game Changer On The Battlefield

Why Is The Pentagon Dragging Its Feet on 3D Printing? -- Defense One

In August 2010, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Michael Llenza was perched in his jet ready to return to base in Bagram, Afghanistan, when a valve on the plane broke. “I was stuck,” he recalled. “The whole squadron was taking off and I’m sitting there.” The pilot would have to wait weeks for a replacement part to be shipped from a carrier in the Indian Ocean. A thought came to Llenza: “Wouldn’t it be great if I could walk back into the hangar and print out a part?”

What Llenza had in mind was three-dimensional printing, a burgeoning technology that allows its users to transform digital models into physical objects. Also called additive manufacturing, 3D printing works by extruding materials, including plastic, latex, and ceramic, through a printer nozzle layer-upon-layer until the object is fully shaped, like an inkjet printer with a vertical as well as horizontal axis. The process could have created a new valve for the lieutenant commander in a matter of hours rather than weeks, and for much less than cost of international shipping.

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My Comment: An excellent analysis on how 3D printing can be useful in shortening the time on receiving parts. On a side note .... the above video is an excellent documentary on 3D printing.

US Navy Is Committed To 3D Printing

Navy Considers 3D-Printing Future Fleets Of Drones -- RT

Three-dimensional (3D) printers are quickly proving to be capable of creating just about anything out of little more than thin air, and that could be the military’s key to keeping an endless arsenal of drones at its disposal.

Just as 3D-printed organs, pizza and even firearms are being made with the post-modern machinery, the United States military is eyeing the up-and-coming technology as to further their upper-hand on the battlefield. Recently, a decorated member of the US Navy made an argument for adding unmanned aerial vehicles and even munitions to the list of items that can be made with little more than a well-equipped printer and a few clicks of a mouse.

Read more ....

Update #1: Navy Wants Aircraft Carriers to Manufacture Weapons On the Go -- Gizmodo
Update #2: Navy Believes 3D Printed Ammunitions Are Possible -- USNavySeals.com

My Comment: This technology is only beginning .... what can only dream about what will be possible in 10 or 20 years.

3-D Printed Shotgun Shells

Watch 3-D Printed Shotgun Slugs Blow Away Their Targets -- The Danger Room

Everyone knows about 3-D printed guns. Now a hobbyist from Tennessee has created 3-D printed shotgun slugs. Then he sent them to his friend, who took the slugs and blasted away.

In a video posted to internet this week, Jeff Heeszel, a 48-year-old industrial technician from Visalia, California, is seen firing three 3-D printed slugs from a Mossberg 590 shotgun. The first two slugs both hit their targets at a range of about 25 to 30 feet. The first slug penetrated a dart board. “It went right through that,” Heeszel tells Danger Room. And then carried on to penetrate through a water jug. The second slug blasted through a 2×12 piece of pine wood, and then bored a hole in a wire reel. A third slug with a three-pointed front was then fired at much closer range at a mannequin’s head, but just knocked it over.

Read more ....

My Comment: 3-D printing is still in the infant stage. One can only imagine what will be possible in 10 to 20 years when this technology further develops.

Are 3-D Printers The Future For The Military?

Army Staff Sgt. Joshua Rucinski checks his 3-D printer at Joint Base Balad, Iraq on June 8, 2011. Less than two years later, an increasing number of military officers are saying this could change the way we fight wars. Photo: U.S. Army

In Tomorrow’s Wars, Battles Will Be Fought With a 3-D Printer -- The Danger Room

A 3-D printed drone is shot down by insurgents near a far-flung base manned by the U.S. military. Within hours, a small lab dropped onto the base by a helicopter days before churns out a replacement — along with plenty of ammunition and reinforced shelters for the troops. A few miles off a nearby coastline, a naval ship-turned-factory harvests resources from the sea and uses on-board printers to make everything from food to replacement organs.

It’s a far-out vision for future combat, but at least one naval officer thinks it could happen. According to Lt. Cmdr. Michael Llenza, who sketched out the scenario in the latest Armed Forces Journal, 3-D printing could arguably “upend the way we think about supply chains, sea basing and even maritime strategy.” And by we, Llenza doesn’t just mean Americans. The Chinese military is already bragging about how they are printing parts for their next-gen aircraft.

Read more ....

My Comment: Not everyone is buying into this future.

Why Security Specialists Are Concerned About 3D Weapons

Reporter Simon Murphy carried the plastic gun on to a London to Paris service in the weekend rush-hour

How Mail On Sunday 'Printed' First Plastic Gun In UK Using A 3D Printer- And Then Took It On Board Eurostar Without Being Stopped In Security Scandal -- Daily Mail

* Weapon capable of firing a live round smuggled on to packed Eurostar
* Reporters passed unchallenged through airport-style security
* Pistol produced using £1,700 machine to 'print' its components

The Mail On Sunday today exposes the massive international security risk posed by a gun that can be easily made with new 3D printers.

We built the weapon, which is capable of firing a live round, from blueprints available on the internet – then smuggled it on to a packed Eurostar train.

Two reporters passed completely unchallenged through strict airport-style security to carry the gun on to a London to Paris service in the weekend rush-hour, alongside hundreds of unsuspecting travelers.

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My Comment: I did not see any bullets or a metal firing pin .... sometime that I am sure the metal detectors would have noticed.

U.S. Government Shuts Down 3D Gun Manufacturer

Blueprints For 3D-Plastic Gun Downloaded 100,000 Times In 2 Days Before The State Department Orders The Site To Take Down The Weapon Designs -- Daily Mail

* Defense Distributed posted video on Sunday of founder shooting all-plastic gun made on an $8,000 3-D printer
* Pistol uses only one metal piece - a small nail for the firing pin
* Blueprints for the weapons were downloaded 100,000 times in two days
* Most downloaded in Spain, then the U.S., Brazil, Germany, and the U.K.
* The State Department has demanded the site take down the blueprints

Blueprints for the first-ever plastic gun produced on a 3-D printer, that can pass through metal detectors, have been downloaded over 100,000 times since it was posted to the web on Monday.

Designs for the 'Liberator' pistol were posted online by Defense Distributed but on Thursday the U.S. State Department ordered the website to take down the blueprints, on the basis that the plans could violate export regulations.

The blueprints, that could be produced on 3-D printers costing as little as $1,000, were seen as a breakthrough because no one has previously designed such a weapon that could withstand the pressure of firing modern ammunition.

Read more ....

More News On The US Government Shutting Down Defense Distributed's Website

Pentagon Scrubs 3D Gun Plans From Internet, Says Designer -- FOX News
3D-printed guns: State Department orders firm to remove web blueprints -- The Guardian
State Department Demands Takedown Of 3D-Printable Gun Files For Possible Export Control Violations -- Forbes
State Department Asks Defense Distributed to Take Down Its 3D-Printed Gun Plans -- Atlantic Wire
US Government shuts down 3D gun manufacturer -- Washington Times
State Department to Cody Wilson: Take your gun blueprints off the Internet -- Foreign Policy
Defense Distributed's Cody Wilson On Being Asked To Remove 3-D Printed Gun Plans: "We Win" -- Popular Science
3D-printed firearm plans downloaded 100,000 times, State Department steps in -- Endgadget
State Department Demands 3-D Gun Blueprints Be Removed -- Tech Crunch
3D-printed gun maker ordered to take down blueprints -- Computerworld
Government orders DEFCAD to go dark, remove gun files -- Examiner
California, New York and DC look to ban 3D-printed guns -- RT
Spain, U.S. lead in downloads of 3D plastic pistol blueprints -- La Prensa
Downloads for 3D-printed Liberator gun reach 100,000 -- BBC
Blueprints for 3D-Printable Guns Downloaded: 100,000; Guns Printed: 0 -- Atlantic Wire
3D-printed guns: expert warns of threat to user -- The Guardian
Why You Should, and Shouldn't, Worry About the 3D-Printed Gun -- Popular Mechanics

First Successful Test Of A 3D Printed Plastic Gun

World’s First Plastic Gun, Made With 3D Printer, Successfully Fired In The United States -- National Post

The successful firing of the world’s first plastic gun, made with 3D printing technology, has brought immediate calls for a ban on so-called “undetectable weapons.”

The gun, called “The Liberator”, was made and developed in Austin, Texas by a non-profit organization called Defense Distributed, which claims its purpose is to “produce and publish information related to the 3D printing of firearms.”

The weapon was made with a 3D printer brought on eBay for just $8,000, and constructed by assembling 15 printed components made from ABS plastic. According to the BBC, which witnessed the weapon’s first test, only the 16th piece, the firing pin, is made from metal.

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More News On The First Successful Test Of A 3D Printed Plastic Gun

Texas anarchist group fires first-ever 3-D printed gun made entirely from plastic... prompting push for ban on weapons that can pass through metal detectors -- Daily Mail
Shots fired from world's first 3D-printed handgun -- The Guardian
Working gun made with 3D printer -- BBC
"Liberator" gun made with 3D printer fires first successful shot -- CBS
3D printed gun fires first shot, lawmakers fire back -- UPI
Cody Wilson's Fully 3D-Printed Gun Works Alarmingly Well -- Motherboard
The Liberator: The first downloadable 3D-printed gun gets test fired -- Extreme Tech
First 3D printed gun plans go live on the Web; test-firing video shows operation -- Examiner
The Liberator, the first completely 3D-printed gun, gets test-fired (video) -- Endgadget
3D-printed gun shoots real bullets -- CBC
3D-printable guns are just the start, says Cody Wilson -- The Guardian
First 3D-printed gun fired on video, blueprint files available to download -- The Verge
How The World's First 3-D Printed Gun Works -- Popular Science
A gun made on a 3D printer has been fired – let's look at this in perspective -- Alex Hern, The Guardian

The First 3D-Printed Gun Is Now Here

The 3D-printed gun that Cody Wilson calls the "Liberator." (Credit: Michael Thad Carter for Forbes)

This Is The World's First Entirely 3D-Printed Gun (Photos) -- Forbes

The 3D-printed gun that Cody Wilson calls the "Liberator." Click to enlarge. (Credit: Michael Thad Carter for Forbes)

Eight months ago, Cody Wilson set out to create the world’s first entirely 3D-printable handgun.

Now he has.

Early next week, Wilson, a 25-year-old University of Texas law student and founder of the non-profit group Defense Distributed, plans to release the 3D-printable CAD files for a gun he calls “the Liberator,” pictured in its initial form above. He’s agreed to let me document the process of the gun’s creation, so long as I don’t publish details of its mechanics or its testing until it’s been proven to work reliably and the file has been uploaded to Defense Distributed’s online collection of printable gun blueprints at Defcad.org.

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Update: The First Entirely 3D-Printed Gun Is Here -- Business Insider

My Comment: This technology is still in it's infancy .... I can only imagine what they will be able to produce in 10, 20, or 30 years from now.

3D Printers Will Soon Be Able To Manufacture Handguns

3D-Printed Weapons Builder Says He's Ready to Print Entire Handgun -- Mashable

For Cody Wilson, the world's most notorious 3D printing gunsmith, it all started with a simple question: "Can you use a 3D printer to print a gun?" The answer to that question might come sooner than anybody expected, as Wilson says he will 3D-print an entire handgun in just a couple of weeks.

If Wilson does print an entire handgun, he will reach a milestone that many thought couldn't be reached so soon. And he will also throw a monkey wrench into not only the broader gun control debate, but also into recent legislative efforts to limit the use of 3D printers to make weapons.

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My Comment: I have posted on this story before. The above documentary is a must see to better understand where this technology is going.

3D Printed Guns (Documentary)

WNU Editor: This is not a surprise .... Defense Dist.'s website has been taken down by U.S. federal authorities. For more news on the impact that Cody Wilson and 3D Printing is having on the gun control debate, go here.