Thanks to 3D printing, the assembly process of the drone body takes only a few hours.
According to the news of Breaking Defense, General Atomics, one of the American drone manufacturers, will sign an agreement with the Divergent startup, which is known for its achievements in the field of 3D printing, in the coming days.
The agreement was signed for General Atomics to use all the technologies of the venture for 3D printing of its hulls and other elements of its drones, as laying carbon fiber manually or industrially takes whole weeks, while 3D printing speeds up the process significantly. Divergent CEO Kevin Zinger says body assembly only takes a few hours. This will significantly reduce drone production costs in the future. After all, the General Atomics series contains 140 mounting points for a small drone, which you can reduce to four when integrating industrial 3D printers into chains.
Adaptive manufacturing (integrating several different technologies into the production chain) is nothing new, but Divergent has 550 patents in this area, which gives an advantage to those who collaborate with them because they are their own unique development.
In addition, experts state that 3D printing can play a key role at a time when the whole world is interested in unmanned aerial vehicles, and their numbers in any army in the world today cannot be considered sufficient. In the near future, experienced fighters with the help of 3D printing will be able to print drone bodies and parts directly on the battlefield, which will greatly simplify logistics and help to compensate for losses in the shortest possible time.
Previously FocusThat the Armed Forces of Ukraine will for the first time receive an “invincible” Danish drone RQ-35 Heidrun: how will it help?
Source: Focus
Ashley Fitzgerald is an accomplished journalist in the field of technology. She currently works as a writer at 24 news breaker. With a deep understanding of the latest technology developments, Ashley’s writing provides readers with insightful analysis and unique perspectives on the industry.