The U.S. Army is training soldiers to 3D print drone components as part of its new Unmanned Advanced Lethality Course (UALC).
Headed by the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence (AVCOE), UALC trains military personnel in producing, maintaining, and operating small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), including first-person view (FPV) drones.
The three-week course seeks to accelerate America’s drone-warfare capabilities and prevent the nation from falling behind foreign adversaries like Russia and China. “This course is a catch-up,” said UALC director Captain Rachel Martin. “We’re behind globally, and this is our aggressive attempt to close that gap.” UALC aims to provide a pathway for participants to build their own unit-level drone program, scaling knowledge throughout the Army.
Based at Fort Rucker, Alabama, the program trains soldiers to build and repair drone components with additive manufacturing technology. Soldiers learn to operate resin, filament, and carbon fiber 3D printers, and to design and modify parts using CAD software and STL files. UALC also plans to create a centralized file repository that students can access and use to 3D print drones after returning to their units.
“Eventually, we want students to build and test their own FPV bodies,” commented Major Wolf Amacker, who heads the AVCOE Directorate of Training and Doctrine UAS and Tactics Branch. “We’re teaching and learning from the force on what’s possible and how to sustain these systems in the field.”
U.S. Army introduces new FPV training program
The U.S. Army’s new training program builds a foundation for standardized UAS use across military functions, enhancing reconnaissance, fires, and maneuver operations. Maj. Amacker said UALC’s goal is to “train the most people, the quickest, on FPV systems that are having a real impact on the battlefield.”
The program starts with classroom instruction, where soldiers develop FPV flight skills using off-the-shelf drones and simulation software. After 20-25 hours of simulation, they advance to live flight exercises at the Army’s Military Operations on Urban Terrain (MOUT) site. Here, soldiers develop fire support integration, learning how to adjust fire using drone video feeds.
Currently, 28 students from across the Army are enrolled in the course, including infantry soldiers, cavalry scouts, 15W and 15E aviation personnel, and warrant officers. Many participants are reportedly self-taught hobbyists or informal drone experts. The course aims to empower soldiers to return to their units as “trainers and innovators.”
Observers from the Maneuver and Fires Centers of Excellence are assessing the UALC and providing feedback for implementation. The Army also expects operational units to create their own basic qualification programs while Fort Rucker becomes the hub for advanced UAS training. Additionally. It also plans to develop a mobile training package (MTP) that will allow units to conduct basic FPV training independently.
By integrating 3D printing into soldier training, the UALC will adapt its curriculum to meet evolving technological and tactical needs, ensuring U.S. forces remain at the forefront of unmanned systems employment. “This is constantly changing,” Amacker said. “We’re building something that can grow with the force.”
U.S. accelerates drone 3D printing efforts
This new training program is part of the U.S. military’s growing adoption of additive manufacturing to enhance its drone capabilities.
During Agile Spirit 25, a multinational training exercise in Eastern Europe, soldiers from the U.S. Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade deployed 3D printers to build FPV drones in the field. Hawkeye Platoon, part of Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry Regiment, led the effort. The unit fabricated, assembled, and maintained quadcopter drones on-site, combining printed parts with off-the-shelf components to meet operational needs.
Brigade-level funding supports Hawkeye Platoon’s drone operations, including the purchase of C100 drones from Performance Drone Works (PDW). Soldiers 3D print many of the other FPVs in the fleet and design custom payloads for specific battlefield needs. This field-based approach cuts both cost and production time. A recent Department of Defense press release noted that soldiers can build a drone in just a few hours for $400 to $500 each.
In other news, the 432nd Wing at the U.S. Air Force’s (USAF) Creech Air Force Base in Nevada integrated Bambu Lab 3D printers into its MQ-9 Reaper military drone maintenance training. Earlier this year, the 3.6-square-mile facility, responsible for maintaining and operating MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper drones, added two X1 Carbon desktop FDM systems to an on-site additive manufacturing facility.
In a press release, Creech Air Force Base stated that “the future of 3D printing within the military presents many groundbreaking applications.” The release highlighted potential uses such as diagnosing aircraft damage and producing replacement parts at the point of need.
Additive manufacturing and the future of warfare
Drones have become a defining weapon on today’s battlefields. In the Russia-Ukraine war, both sides use inexpensive FPVs for precision strikes, surveillance, and supply delivery.
Russia has also expanded long-range attacks, deploying swarms of Shahed-style UAVs to hit targets hundreds of miles beyond the front lines. Ukraine has ramped up production of 3D printed interceptor drones to counter this growing threat. These low-cost devices, designed to hunt and destroy loitering munitions in the air, can be fabricated in scalable 3D printer farms.
Ukrainian non-profit Wild Hornets is applying this approach, running a growing production line of Bambu Lab 3D printers to produce its Sting interceptors. The organization can manufacture up to 100 drones per day, including non-interceptor models, to meet rising demand for FPV drones on the front lines.
Away from Ukraine, the British Army recently 3D printed FPV drones on the front lines of Exercise Bull Storm in Kenya. The team, led by Major Stephen Watts, Officer Commanding F Company, 3rd Battalion, The Rifles Regiment, fabricated five drones using a Banbu Lab printer powered by a portable field generator. Technicians from the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) then installed batteries, cameras, and circuit boards to make the drones operational.
This additive manufacturing workflow reduced individual drone costs from £2,000 to just £400 and cut procurement time, with each drone printed and assembled in about four hours. Looking ahead to the next exercise, Maj. Watts hopes to set up a larger 3D printing facility just behind the front lines. The facility could produce drones continuously, supplying frontline units alongside rations and ammunition.
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Featured image shows soldiers and instructors in the inaugural Unmanned Advanced Lethality Course (UALC) at Fort Rucker preparing to launch a small unmanned aerial system during their training at the range. Photo via 2nd Lt. Veronica Jordan.
