A U.S. Army brigade training in the Philippines has successfully 3D-printed around 100 drones in the field, commanders told reporters Wednesday.
The Hawaii-based 2nd Mobile Brigade Combat Team (MBCT), 25th Infantry Division, used Stratasys F370 3D printers housed in mobile labs to build first-person view (FPV) drones during the Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center–Exportable (JPMRC-X), part of Exercise Salaknib 2025—an annual bilateral training operation between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the U.S. military.
Maj. Gen. Marcus Evans, commander of the 25th ID, said the initiative began earlier this year as part of an effort to test new capabilities in the field. “[The device] allowed us to print almost 100 drones,” he said.
According to 2nd MBCT Command Sgt. Maj. Eric Guevara, the brigade’s initial drone model was made up of three to five separate parts but the assembly process proved inefficient, prompting a redesign.
“So now we have gotten to the point where…that’s just a single component, and using off-the shelf-products, motors and cameras, they are able to assemble three to four drones per hour,” Guevara said.
Originally limited to short-range platforms, the brigade has since advanced to building medium-range drones with a reach of up to 30 kilometers.
“Usually the operator was having to methodically scan the area, slowly, looking with their own eyes to find targets, now they can scan quickly,” said Col. Dave Lamborn, 2nd MBCT’s commander. “The AI will automatically pick up what it recognizes has potential targets, that cues the operator that can go back and then look at those areas in more detail.”
The drone development effort is part of the Army’s broader “Transformation-in-Contact” initiative, aimed at integrating emerging technologies into live operations and reducing reliance on long supply chains, an approach influenced in part by innovations seen on the battlefield in Ukraine.
