{"id":13750,"date":"2026-07-16T21:07:21","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T21:07:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/can-new-drones-3d-printers-defeat-distances-tyranny-rimpac-aims-to-find-out\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T21:07:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T21:07:21","slug":"can-new-drones-3d-printers-defeat-distances-tyranny-rimpac-aims-to-find-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/can-new-drones-3d-printers-defeat-distances-tyranny-rimpac-aims-to-find-out\/","title":{"rendered":"Can new drones, 3D printers defeat distance\u2019s tyranny? RIMPAC aims to find out"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii<\/strong>\u2014Replacing broken parts and resupplying ships at sea is a challenge anywhere, but in the Pacific theater, that problem is magnified by thousands of miles of sea water. Now, as part of the sprawling Rim of the Pacific, the U.S. military is practicing how it might use tech like self-driving boats and 3D printers that can be thrown out of airplanes to overcome the region\u2019s oft-lamented tyranny of distance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are piloting this program during RIMPAC to experiment with the idea of what theater-wide advanced manufacturing is going to look like for the joint force,\u201d Rear Adm. Michael Mattis told reporters during a media day at the U.S. Pacific Command Joint Advanced Manufacturing Center, calling it the U.S. military\u2019s largest advanced manufacturing demonstration so far.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s RIMPAC features \u201c38 countries, 31 surface vessels, five submarines, over 30,000 personnel, almost 180 aircraft, and over 1,100 personnel that are going to be doing our landings,\u201d Mattis said. \u201cIn that process, it\u2019s an enormous experiment for us to figure out how to sustain the joint force.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marine Lt. Col. Michael Radigan said the experiment\u2014coordinated by Fleetwerx and the Naval Postgraduate School\u2019s Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing Research and Education\u2014is bringing together a \u201ctrifecta of advanced manufacturing, autonomous systems, and artificial intelligence\u2026 to deliver true parts that the joint force needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are we trying to do? Very simply, this is Uber for manufacturing delivered at the speed of Amazon, for the highest quality of parts, and we have the opportunity to do it in the most contested of environments. And that\u2019s extremely challenging,\u201d Radigan said.<\/p>\n

Some of the experiment\u2019s technology\u00a0 was put on display in a sun-scorched field at this Army base near Oahu\u2019s North Shore. San Diego-based Firestorm gave a tour of its expeditionary advanced manufacturing cell, which comprises two shipping containers that can be set up by two people in a few hours. Norway-based Fieldmade displayed what it calls an \u201cadditive manufacturing micro factory\u201d\u2014a rugged 3D printer that can be parachuted from a plane and set up in minutes.<\/p>\n

Florida-based Snowbird Technologies showed off its own 3D printer, housed in a compact shipping container, that works on land and aboard a ship at sea.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rhode Island-based Havoc exhibited a 14-foot autonomous boat it printed for the exercise. The solar-rechargeable unmanned surface vessel is built to operate in moderate seas\u2014and to right itself if it capsizes in heavier weather, said Sea Thomas, Indo-Pacific director for the company.<\/p>\n

And Los Angeles-based Splash Industries displayed a 10-foot Typhoon, an autonomous drone boat with a Pelican case attached to the top. CEO Ivan Avanesov told reporters that the USV had recently executed the first autonomous resupply of a warship at sea\u00a0 when it drove straight onto the well deck of the\u00a0 USS Essex amphibious assault ship\u00a0 underway during RIMPAC. The Typhoon USV later drove itself through rough waters to an aircraft carrier 100 miles from shore, Avanesov said.<\/p>\n

But the gear is just part of the puzzle. \u201cI think we\u2019ve actually got the technology pretty good,\u201d Radigan said. \u201cIt\u2019s all the other things that have to happen throughout the theater in order to be able to deliver those [high-quality parts], the logistics, and creating this into the scale that you\u2019re going to see today. So it\u2019s all about operationalizing advanced manufacturing.\u201d\n\n<\/svg><\/p>\n<\/div>\n