The US Marine Corps is crazy about '3D printer'

A 3D printer that can output thick objects easily,HouseYaCar parts,A part of the bodyIt is possible to create such possibilities not only in daily life but also in military field. "The Netherlands Navy scans all the vessels it carries out 3D scanningWhile news is reported that "US Marine Corps"There is an unprecedented 3D printer boom coming up" is an article saying that the media that takes up the news on US defenseBREAKING DEFENSEIt is published in.

Marines' Love Affair With 3D Printing: Small Is Cheap, & & Beautiful «Breaking Defense - Defense industry news, analysis and commentary
https://breakingdefense.com/2018/03/marines-love-affair-with-3d-printing-small-is-cheap-beautiful/

"Like most love, the romance of Marines and 3D printers also began with small parts called" two cent plastic buttons, "BREAKING DEFENSE said, the Marines' interest in 3D printers, It tells that it started from the button of the income which the crew of the helicopter wears. Helicopter crews tend to push the buttons strongly when operating the income and the incumb buttons will break well. However, the general commander of the Marine CorpsRobert NellerAccording to the general, "When the helicopter's intercom is broken, the whole income must be exchanged because the manufacturer with deal with the Pentagon is not going to restore just the button," he said, so 10,000 It costs 1000 dollars (about 1.2 million yen).

General Neller recently seems to have met with a noncommissioned officer who printed a broken incom button with a 3D printer. Although income can be procured at only 2 cents (about 2 yen) if it prints with a 3D printer, the only obstacle is "It is not allowed to bring the parts made with the 3D printer to the airplane of the military That was the point. General Neller asked Pentagon to intervene and allow 3D printer buttons to be brought in.

He is a subordinate to General NellerGlenn WalterThe general is also one who is fascinated by 3D printers. General Walter owns Marine Corps tanks to preach the splendor of 3D printersM1 AbramsI talked about the episode when six tank air filters broke down. If you replace the M1 Abrams air filter with a normal system operated by the Pentagon, it costs about 1400 dollars (about 150,000 yen) per aircraft and a period of 18 months. However, the female sergeant of the Marine Logistics Army 's Maintenance Force said, "If you ask a 3D printer supplier, you can supply it in just 7 days at a cost of only 300 dollars (about 32,000 yen) per unit, We led the way. General Walter says, "I have a background as an engineer, but the young people 21 and 22 have much more advanced knowledge than I," he said, paying close attention to the idea that young Marine members think. I will.


General Neller also said that "a young Marine has a very clever brain and a good idea." Even in the young Marine Corps training program called "Innovation / Challenge" that the Marines will focus on, many innovative ideas It is said that it was seen. Innovation · Challenge cooperates not only with Marines but also university students majoring in robotics engineering and energy science, and is trying to create more innovation that makes Marine Corps operation more reasonable.

The 3D printers are deployed not only in the innovation challenge but also in each unit, and according to General Walter, 69 Marine units have deployed 69 3D printers as a whole. General Neller gave members of the Defense Industry Association delivering military products to the Pentagon, "3D printers are OK if there is resin as much as necessary for parts, it is more efficient than scraping from large metal plates" , We also encourage manufacturers of military products to consider introducing 3D printers.

"We have all the data necessary for 3D printing in the hard disk and we are also preparing to provide 3D data," General General Neller said and strongly insisted on incorporating 3D printers into parts supply system It seems to be.


For both General Neller and General Walter, it is assumed that a Marine Corps unit owns a 3D printer and prints out small replacement parts and small equipment on a daily basis. Compact size that General Neller has deployed in all rifle unitsDroneWe also believe that 3D printers will play an active role in the stable supply of parts as they require a large number of consumables.

Of course, it is impossible to apply 3D printers to all parts, especially metal parts of aircraft are hard to be safe and guaranteed metal, and it can not be replaced with resin that can be handled with 3D printers. Also, combining parts made with 3D printers to complete one product does not necessarily work well. However, there is no doubt that there is great potential for 3D printers to be active in the Marine Corps.

BREAKING DEFENSE states that Marine Corps culture is involved as a reason why Marines are enthusiastic about transferring new technologies such as 3D printers so far. Marine Corps is a very small organization and there are climates that are easy for individual personnel to accept innovation at their discretion. Because Marine Corps are dispersedly operated around the world in small units over a long period of time, there are many Marines who think to move more reasonably and more efficiently at their discretion. BREAKING DEFENSE reports that even in the US military organizations other than the Marine Corps, there is a possibility that if it becomes distributed operation of each unit, it is possible to get absorbed in a 3D printer.