A real game changer

The 3D printing world is filled with do-it-yourself nerds and creative types.
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But now there are some new, more aggressive entrants looking to join the desktop manufacturing community: the U.S. military’s special operators.
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The United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM) announced on Monday that they’d like to buy a 3D printer.
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Specifically, they want to get their hands on a Stratasys Dimension BST 1200es series 3D printer.
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The printer, a cabinet-sized machine that retails for about $25,000, fashions objects on demand using ABS plus thermoplastic
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It’s all part of a revolution that’s sweeping through the manufacturing world.

At the entry level, companies like MakerBot offer machines that an average user can afford and use to forge neat stuff like Death Star Models. 
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It isn’t just for the do-it-yourself crowd, though. 
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At the high end, car manufacturers have used the technology to help build concept cars for the automotive industry.
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The defense world has also taken note of the possibilities offered by 3D printing. 
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In March, the Defense Department’s blue sky research outfit, Darpa, announced they’d like to get into the desktop manufacturing business. 
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Their plan was to have swarms of mini robots use 3D printing technology to stamp out multifunctional metamorphic and programmable materials..
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But what would SOCOM want with a 3D printer? 
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The command’s announcement doesn’t say. 
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And they’re just looking for a single printer – so, most likely, this is a chance to experiment, not to go operational.
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Still, the battle implications are enticing: 
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Scientists in the U.K. have already used 3D printers to make a small, two meter wingspan unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that flew as fast as 1000 miles per hour . 

The team designed the drone in two days and printed it over the course of five days. 
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That kind of short lead time between design and manufacturing can allow designers to quickly test out new ideas and prototypes.

In fact, Dimension, the manufacturers of the printer model SOCOM wants to buy, have already shown that drones and unmanned platforms can be made with their own printers. 
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The company’s Extreme Redesign contest lets middle school, high school and college students submit their own innovative designs to be manufactured by their 3D printers. 
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This year, second place went to a design for a small flying  quadrotor. 
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The unmanned four-rotor mini-helicopters are useful as defense and law enforcement surveillance platforms.