Soldiers from the U.S. Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade are now taking battlefield adaptability into their own hands. After the Army retired the RQ-7B Shadow drone in March 2024, a team called Hawkeye Platoon, from the 1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry Regiment, built its own fleet of 3D printed drones from scratch for missions. This showcases how the combination of 3D printing and traditional parts is transforming the capabilities of small units in the field.
With money from the brigade, the platoon has become a mobile drone lab. They utilize simple 3D printers and common electronics to create, assemble, and fly first-person view (FPV) drones. They create each one for specific combat or scouting needs. Each drone costs about $400 to $500 and can be made in just a few hours. Staff Sgt. Andy Ortiz, a drone pilot and trainer, said that even soldiers who are new to drones can learn to build and fly them with training and practice. He stated, “It could increase the lethality of the platoon or the Army because it’s super cheap to build. If it breaks, we fix it in-house.“
Though FPVs need a direct line of sight, they are cheap and quick to use, making them helpful. Hawkeye Platoon uses them for close-range scouting, fake attack runs, and testing how to drop explosives. The team has even designed parts to add to the drones to simulate dropping small payloads. Ortiz mentioned that, “instead of calling for fire support, someone in your platoon could take out the target with a drone.“
Besides the FPVs, the platoon also uses the C100, a drone that can fly on its own for long distances. It has a range of 10 kilometers and can fly for 74 minutes. This drone is used for missions that go beyond what you can see, like resupplying aid stations or doing deep scouting. Soldiers can set the mission ahead of time, allowing the drone to fly itself and return, which works well in rough areas.
This is all supported by a system where the platoon is trained, and then they train other soldiers in the brigade. This lets the drone program grow with soldier-led training. Their mobile lab has everything for building, testing, and keeping drones running, so they have total control over their drone fleet.
These skills were recently tested during Agile Spirit 25, a practice event in Georgia. This event let the platoon prove that their designs and 3D printing method work in real situations. The success of these exercises shows more than just a replacement for an old system. It points to a big change in how the Army uses technology at the squad level.
U.S Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that drones are the biggest change in battlefield tech in a long time. For Hawkeye Platoon, 3D printing makes that change possible. They can create and use custom drones when needed, turning them from operators of old tech into designers, builders, and users, one printed frame at a time.
To learn more about these recent developments, you can view the U.S Department of Defense memo HERE. What are your thoughts on these 3D printed drones? How do you see 3D printing serving a greater role in the U.S military? Let us know in a comment below or on our LinkedIn or Facebook pages! Plus, don’t forget to sign up for our free weekly Newsletter to get the latest 3D printing news straight to your inbox. You can also find all our videos on our YouTube channel. For more 3D printing news in the aerospace and defense sectors, check out our dedicated page HERE.
*All Photo Credit: United States Department of Defense & Defense Health Agency (DHA.gov)