Move over, Sylvester Stallone. There’s a new Rambo in town.
That’s what the U.S. Army is calling its new, 3-D printable weapon. This grenade launcher, including its grenade rounds, can be 3-D printed from steel and aluminum.
The futuristic weapon is a proof of concept for using 3-D printing technology, or additive manufacturing, to design and produce new munitions, ultimately getting them in the hands of soldiers faster.
Additive manufacturing cuts production time down to “a matter of days rather than months,” a press release said. 90 percent of the gun is produced in 35 hours. 3-D printing the rounds, manufactured without the explosives for now, are expected to cut costs by tens of thousands of dollars.
The 40-millimeter grenade launcher, modeled off the storied M203, was developed over six months by a cadre of Army engineers, Gizmodo reports. Satisfied by the live-fire tests conducted in October 2016, the Army will continue to examine the results before 3D-printing is fully adopted.
Continuously looking for ways to gain an advantage on the battlefield, the United States military has a history of applying emerging technologies in some innovative, and sometimes unbelievable, ways. Check out the video of how this cutting-edge weapon was made.
—RealClearLife
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