US provides Ukraine with 3D printers for battlefield spare parts

U.S. Under Secretary of Defense William LaPlante said on Sept. 15 that the U.S. has provided the Ukrainian military with industrial-size 3D printers to print spare parts for battlefield equipment.

Speaking at the Center for a New American Security, LaPlante said that the 3D printers were procured last month and training for the Ukrainian military on operating them was completed in the past week.

The 3D printers are "about the size of a truck," and their use on the battlefield is "changing the ballgame," La Plante said.

According to the U.S. official, Ukrainian forces were independently using 3D printers to print spare parts at the start of the full-scale invasion.

Although Ukrainian forces did not have the appropriate technical data packets to do so, intellectual property laws "are only mildly interesting" when one's country is under attack.

Since then, Ukraine has been supplied with all the relevant technical data packages by the U.S. and other allies to carry out 3D printing, LaPlante added.

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