Paul Marks of New Scientist Tech reports on Lockheed Martin making unmanned aerial vehicles through rapid prototyping.
And since UAVs tend to crash more often than piloted planes, the race is on among UAV makers to make them cheaper. The Skunk Works thinks a technique called 3D rapid prototyping, or "3D printing", is the best way to lower costs. ... About 90 per cent of Polecat is made of composite materials with much of that material made by rapid prototyping. ... By mixing composite polymers with radar-absorbing metals, it is thought that the aircraft can be built with a certain amount of stealth characteristics already built in....The flexibility lent by 3D printing allowed Mauro's team to design and build the Polecat in only 18 months."
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