US Marines 3D Print a 7-Meter Raiding Craft and Take It to Sea

The US Marine Corps turned a large-format polymer 3D printer into a boat factory during Exercise Valiant Shield 26. In June, Marines at White Beach Naval Facility in Okinawa printed a 7-meter foam-hull raiding craft, fitted it with an outboard motor, and took it to sea. The vessel handled both manned and unmanned runs, including autonomous waypoint navigation.

The effort came under the Manufacturing Attritable Systems at Scale (MASS) program. Marines from Intermediate Repair Company, 3rd Maintenance Battalion, 3rd Marine Logistics Group worked with engineers from Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock. They used three main tools: a CNC router, a large-format polymer 3D printer, and a spray foam and coating system. Materials were chosen for worldwide availability, so units could source them locally if supply chains broke down.

Print on the Move

The demonstration included a second experiment called Print on the Move. Marines loaded a commercially available polymer 3D printer onto a tactical vehicle and drove it toward White Beach. One printer kept fabricating a component during the transit and even continued printing while aboard the foam craft as it operated on the water.

Dr. Cindy Waters, senior science and technology manager at Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock, said the tests evaluated which printer, material, and software combinations could survive vibration and expeditionary conditions. The goal is to give frontline units the ability to produce tools, brackets, and replacement parts without waiting on traditional logistics.

Why This Matters

Most 3D-printed military hardware stories focus on small components: brackets, drone parts, tooling. This test went a step further. A full-size craft, printed in sections and assembled with a protective polyurea coating, is a much larger commitment of material and time. The fact that it ran on the water with a 300-horsepower outboard suggests the structural approach holds up under real loads.

The Marine Corps has already placed 3D printers at units across the Fleet Marine Force. Junior Marines at the II MEF Innovation Campus have used them to design and print solutions on demand. The equipment and partnerships from this exercise stayed with Intermediate Repair Company after Valiant Shield ended, so the unit can keep refining the capability.

Senior leaders from III Marine Expeditionary Force and 3rd Marine Logistics Group observed the White Beach demonstration. Maj. Krake stated the force will be trained, manned, and equipped to deploy these field-ready technologies inside the First Island Chain.