Why 3D Printing Is Becoming The Pentagon’s Most Vital Asset

BusinessAerospace & DefenseWhy 3D Printing Is Becoming The Pentagon’s Most Vital AssetByZita Ballinger Fletcher,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Zita Ballinger Fletcher is a defense technology reporterFollow AuthorMay 18, 2026, 01:26pm EDTMay 18, 2026, 01:28pm EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.NATO produced 3D-printed unmanned vessels for its Special Operations Forces that were used in the Bold Machina exercise held in the Netherlands in September 2025. (Photo by Koen van Weel / ANP / AFP) / Netherlands OUT (Photo by KOEN VAN WEEL/ANP/AFP via Getty Images)ANP/AFP via Getty ImagesThis month the U.S. Army’s 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) hosted a symposium at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. to teach soldiers how to use additive manufacturing, better known as 3D printing, to create basic parts to repair equipment. The symposium is the latest example of a revolution sweeping steadily across all branches of the U.S. military – the use of 3D printing to place viable, instant supply chains directly in the hands of service members.The 3D printing revolution encompasses nearly all available materials and is being applied to almost any military purpose. It extends not only to parts and equipment, but vehicles, weapons components, drones, fortifications and even military housing. The Army used 3D printing to produce its new BRAKER warhead, a bunker buster bomb made to be launched on a suicide drone.3D-Printed Concrete FortificationsThe Maryland Air National Guard developed an Expeditionary 3D Concrete Printer to rapidly build fortifications for use in combat zones. (Courtesy of 175th CES/Maj. Brian Vickers)U.S. Air ForceLast April, engineers of the Maryland Air National Guard partnered with X-Hab 3D to produce a military-grade 3D concrete printer for fortifications. The effort was a success. In less than a day, the printer churns out...