Towards Expeditionary Battlefield Manufacturing Using Recycled, Reclaimed, and Scrap Materials

The ability to manufacture at the point of need in austere environments is a very important concept for the military. Research at the US Army Research Laboratory (ARL) is showing that agile, expeditionary manufacturing could be accomplished through use of materials at or near to the location of operating bases. These materials could include not only organic and inorganic materials naturally occurring in the area but also recycled materials (metals, polymers, etc.) from operating bases as well as battlefield scrap. This idea could potentially reduce the huge logistics tail needed to conduct wars on foreign soil, saving valuable resources and lives, and allowing the warfighter to perform the mission, instead of guarding and securing convoy transports. It would be favorable for our warfighters to have access to technology that uses locally available materials, for the following reasons: improved operational readiness, decreased energy costs related to transportation, reduction of spares inventory needed in-theater, and increased self-sustainability of operating bases. This paper describes ARL’s efforts towards delivering manufacturing operations to the battlefield using recycled, reclaimed, and scrap materials for feedstock.