Indian Army opens metallic 3D printing facility for combat spares

Southern Command has operationalised additive manufacturing facilities in Pune, including the Field Army’s first end-to-end metallic additive manufacturing facility, giving the Army an in-house route to produce combat-critical spares, drone components and other equipment when schedules slip or supply lines tighten. The shift pushes the service past basic polymer printing and into metal production built for maintenance and rapid repair.

A Press Information Bureau release on the metal system said the indigenously designed machine has a build volume of 1 m x 1 m x 3 m, which makes it one of the largest metal additive manufacturing machines in India. It uses Laser and Blown-Powder based Direct Energy Deposition technology, with dual heads for thermal balancing and speed. That combination matters in a field-support setting, where a larger build envelope and faster deposition can turn additive manufacturing from a novelty into a practical sustainment tool.

The facility arrives as India’s defence-industrial base keeps expanding. Defence production hit a record 1.27 lakh crore in FY 2023-24, up 174% from 46,429 crore in FY 2014-15. The Ministry of Defence and the Department of Defence Production have also used five Positive Indigenisation Lists to put fixed timelines on items, after which procurement is restricted to domestic manufacturers. For the Army, that puts more weight on local repair, local sourcing and local redesign.

Southern Command has been building toward this for years. It launched its Regional Technology Node in Pune on 2 November 2021, then brought industry and service leaders together again at RSAMI in Pune on 14 June 2024 for the seminar “Swavalamban se Shakti: Bharat ki Nayi Disha.” In 2025, official Army remarks said additive manufacturing partnerships with Army Base Workshops were setting new benchmarks, while the Army’s Agnishodh initiative was framed as a way to convert lab-scale innovations into field-ready technologies and upskill personnel in additive manufacturing and other emerging areas.

The same logic extends to unmanned systems. The Indian Army signed an MoU with the Drone Federation of India on 8 August 2022 to collaborate on drones, counter-drone and associated technologies, underscoring why locally printed parts can matter well beyond the factory floor. For a force that has to keep equipment moving, the point of the Pune facility is plain: make the part where the need exists, shorten the wait, and keep critical systems in service.