在接下来的几周内，美国海军陆战队将在战斗行动中推出3D印刷无人机。这架无人飞机将被称为“ nibbler”，这将是第一个由传统部队在冲突领域中使用的同类飞机，并且对国防数字技术的未来有许多影响。
武器按需
如其名称所建议的那样，Nibbler是一种小型设备，旨在从空中收集智能。可以使用一些基本的预制组件（例如电动机和电池，3D打印机和丝状丝线）制造简单的设计。
远离设备的军事性能像DARPA的Tern无人机，nibbler的易于生产，使其与众不同。
Speaking to Defense SystemsCaptain Chris J. Wood of the Marine Corp’s innovation and logistics branch, explains,
Our team is very enthusiastic about the Nibbler, but even more enthusiastic about what it represents for the future […] Imagine being in a forward deployed environment, and just like Amazon, you can ‘order’ the weapons and equipment you need for the next day’s mission from an entire catalog of possible solutions.
在国际规模上采用
nibbler只是一系列“过夜”解决方案that can be produced by the military with a 3D printing facility. To this end, the Marines are in the process of introducing four new labs for the purpose, with another 25 maker units having already been deployed in the U.S. and overseas.
军方的其他分支，例如U.S. Navy’s fleet readiness centers,are also investigating the utility of 3D printing, particularly in relation to spare parts production and design consolidation.
A question of security
如研究表明，网络安全仍然是军队中3D印刷的关键问题。到目前为止，预防速度与采用该技术的速度相似 - 由于项目仍处于试点阶段，因此仍在开发适当的安全程序。
One suggested precaution is to create a kind of Blockchain security for the CAD data used in marine maker labs. As previously reported on 3D Printing Industry, Blockchain security for CAD data could come in the form of预先编程的不完美s, causing improperly accessed files to fail when 3D printed with the wrong settings.
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Featured image: “The Nibbler drone is flown by U.S. Marines and civilian contractors with II Marine Expeditionary Force (II MEF) inside of the 2nd Maintenance Battalion warehouse on Camp Lejeune, N.C., May 18, 2017.” U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Taylor N. Cooper
