US Army Trains Soldiers in Drone 3D Printing

The U.S. Army has introduced the Unmanned Advanced Lethality Course (UALC), a three-week program training soldiers to produce, maintain, and operate small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), including first-person view (FPV) drones.

Run by the Army Aviation Center of Excellence, UALC emphasizes additive manufacturing for building drone components. Soldiers are taught to use resin, filament, and carbon fiber 3D printers, alongside CAD software and STL files, to design and repair parts in the field. The course also includes extensive simulation training and live FPV flight exercises.

The Army plans to expand training through unit-level programs and mobile packages to standardize drone use across the force.