Electronic Military & Defense magazine was developed for engineers, program managers, project managers, and those involved in the design and development of electronic and electro-optic systems for military, defense, and aerospace applications.
Issue link: https://electronicsmilitarydefense.epubxp.com/i/146848
Feature Additive Manufacturing And Its Implications For Military And Defense 3D printing will soon enable on-demand fabrication of weapons, electronics, and other critical military parts — but will the technology be a double-edged sword? by Atin Angrish T his article presents an analysis of the current additive manufacturing technologies for military and defense forces, covering both electronics and mechanical product development. It will cover the topics of technology landscaping and will attempt to draw possible future scenarios and assess the strategies and best practices that may be applied by military and defense organizations around the world. The Need For Additive Manufacturing Three-dimensional (3D) printing has been hailed as one of the most innovative ideas in the last decade. The technology has huge potential for a number of sectors such as automobile and aerospace. However, it has the greatest application potential in the military and defense sector, especially in the manufacturing of arms and weaponry parts. The technology not only promises to make the manufacturing of weapons cheaper, but also much faster. The ability for countries to create their own designs and manufacture weapons instantly will make Netherlands - 5% Republic of Korea - 6% them more self-dependent, as currently the weapons manufacturing and export market is mostly dominated by the United States and Israel. Figure 1 shows the levels of world export of artillery weapons for 2011. As we can see from Figure 1, the United States and Israel account for approximately 85 percent of the world export of non-propelled artillery weapons. The Republic of Korea and the Netherlands are the other notable exporters. Overall, Israel is one of the largest exporters of defense-related equipment in the world, so much so that its economy is heavily dependent on the defense sector. Similarly, the largest importers of weapons in the world are shown in Figure 2. In 2011, Australia and Iraq were and continue to be the largest importers of artillery weapons and parts. Exports of weapons and parts often have high costs associated with them, including significant transportation and security expenses. Furthermore, adding taxes to these figures makes the price of weapon procurement skyrocket to 200 percent to 300 percent above the original cost. Others - 3% Australia - 1% Poland- 7% Slovakia - 3% Republic of Korea - 15% Iraq - 33% Israel - 15% USA - 70% Figure 1: Exporters of guns, howitzers, and other non-self-propelled ammunition, 2011 [Source: International Trade Centre] 8 Electronic Military & Defense ■ www.vertmarkets.com/electronics Australia - 42% Figure 2: Importers of guns, howitzers, and other non-self-propelled ammunition, 2011 [Source: International Trade Centre]