Printed help

Urgently needed spare parts are difficult to procure, especially at sea. 3D printers are now set to provide a remedy.

3D printing has been offering industry a wide range of options for the additive manufacturing of spare parts for several years now. German allies such as the USA, Norway, the UK and the Netherlands are also utilising this innovative technology to increase the level of technical clarity in their armed forces. The Bundeswehr intensified its activities in the field of additive manufacturing with the establishment of the 3D printing centre in 2017 at the Wehrwissenschaftliches Institut für Werk- und Betriebsstoffe (WIWeB) in Erding. The aim was to establish a central point of contact for the further development of the new technology from this point onwards. At the same time, the then State Secretary Katrin Suder recommended to the inspectors that the organisational units actively cooperate with the 3D printing centre in order to further advance the development of this technology for the Bundeswehr. Then as now, the production of availability-critical spare parts, efficient logistics and innovation form the core of the scientific work with the aim of further increasing the technical readiness of equipment and systems of the armed forces.