"Ukrainian battlefield lessons are pushing a British Army unit to adopt a technologythat has shown promise in the war against Russia: 3D printing drone parts close to where they're needed most. Lt Col Ben Irwin-Clark, commanding officer of the 1st Battalion Irish Guards, an elite infantry regiment, told Business Insider that the battalion's decision to print drones and drone parts was "definitely a lesson we picked up from Ukraine.""
"The war in Ukraine has shown how quickly armies must adapt, experiment, and replace broken equipment - often faster than traditional supply chains allow. Irwin-Clark said that in the last few months of working with the Ukrainians, the battalion saw just how important small drones are. It has now trained 78 of its 300 people as pilots or instructors. And it has also quickly learned that training with drones means breaking them."
An elite British Army battalion has adopted 3D printing to produce drones, drone parts, bomblets, and replicas of Russian equipment. The unit increased drone training after a rotation with Ukrainian forces, training 78 of 300 personnel as pilots or instructors. The unit found that drone training causes frequent breakage, and in-house printing and modification proved faster and cheaper than formal procurement. 3D printing reduces procurement timelines from weeks to hours, enabling rapid adaptation to changing tactics and battlefield needs. The effort aims to bring manufacturing closer to the front, improving affordability, training relevance, and operational resilience.
Read at Business Insider
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