AH-64 Apache Projects

Firefinder said:
Depends on many things.

If the wear time ends up being similar why not use it.

And the military been testing that since the 3D printing boom realky took off a few years back. And entire sub section of the research budget is fed into testing this out. Heck a few months the Navy put a set of 3d metal printers on the Kearsarge, who after a week of screwing with them told Big Navy that they not giving them back. And Ukraine got several back in August and basically said similar.

Apparently the parts are good enough for the end users.
Click to expand...
I'd still be very, very leery of trusting a laser-sintered rotor hub, for example, over a forged one. Any low stress parts, sure, 3d print nuts and bolts all day. But high stress like the rotor hub? No thank you!
 
Well if someone will go put a few hundred hours on the printed rotor head I might be more inclined to accept it. That is what we pay test pilots for right?
 
Apache is not getting a lot of love these days. In fairness a lot of updates were being done while the United States were focused on Central Asia. With the pivot to the Pacific and the huge distances, there are few with an appitite for further investment in a short(er) range attack helicopter. Short sighted perhaps, but with senior leaders in the US trying to invest in updating the U.S. Navy, and the U.S. Air Force as the primary branches in that region, and FLRAA just starting, there is very little funds available at the moment.
 

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