A 3D-printed drone was
recently launched from a British military warship and successfully flew to
shore, a demonstration that could pave the way for futuristic spy drones that
can be printed at sea.
Engineers at the
University of Southampton, in the United Kingdom, built the unmanned aircraft
using 3D printing, which has been used to create
everything from pelvic implants to a prosthetic tortoise shell. The drone was
launched off the front of the Royal Navy warship HMS Mersey. It flew
approximately 1,640 feet (500 meters) in just a few minutes, and landed safely
on a beach in Dorset, England, the researchers said.
The 3D-printed aircraft,
dubbed SULSA, has a wingspan that measures 4 feet (1.2 m) long, and it can fly
up to 60 miles per hour (97 km/h). Drones like these could one day be used for
military surveillance because they can fly almost silently, the researchers
said. [The 10 Weirdest Things Created By 3D Printing]
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