British troops used portable 3D printers manufactured by 
Bambu Labs — the 3D printer brand owned by Shenzhen-based Shenzhen Tuozhu Technology Co Ltd (拓竹科技) — to make first person view (FPV) suicide drones in the field and deploy them on attack missions during a military exercise in Kenya earlier this year.
Officers want to train “whole platoons” to use the 3D printers, which would enable them to be “armed with a virtually endless supply” of weapons.
Robert Clark, a defence expert and visiting fellow at the Council on Geostrategy: the decision to use a Chinese company for the army’s 3D printing was “outrageous” and “shameful”.
“The Ministry of Defence are just not learning their lessons on this. We may as well be handing them the keys to the back door of our security systems.”
“The big picture is that the MoD is currently facing a £2.5B black hole for the next financial year, and they are clearly doing things now on the cheap. This is saying: ‘We don’t want to invest in British or even other Western companies which are more secure – let’s just turn to China to plug those gaps.’”
“This is 100% going to come back and bite the Army and the Government. It is a house of cards waiting to fall down, and when it does it is going to be severe.”
The Chinese government has classified 3D printing as a “strategic industry”, meaning huge state subsidies are available for companies.
Under China’s National Intelligence Law, passed in 2017, companies can be compelled to share data with the government, including filenames, timestamps and machine logs.
Ed Arnold, a senior research fellow for European security at the Royal United Services Institute: the use of the Chinese technology was “very concerning”. “China, Russia and North Korea are working together in a variety of areas. One area that is consistent is technology transfer. That is a core part of what is driving them together. The Chinese extract the data and then likely hand it to the Russians.”
3D printing is a “hot topic” in defense, particularly following the success Ukraine has had in making drones on the front lines of the war against Russia.
“So far they have mostly been used for printing drones – the parts are quick and cheap to make and you can make them anywhere. But people do not realise that every 3D printer has a tiny but powerful computer on the inside. There has not been a public discussion about security implications.”
Ministry of Defence (MoD): “There is no evidence that Bambu Labs printers store information which could be passed to Chinese authorities. 3D printers are not connected to the defence network and are not used to produce any sensitive materials.”
telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/
Bambu Labs — the 3D printer brand owned by Shenzhen-based Shenzhen Tuozhu Technology Co Ltd (拓竹科技) — to make first person view (FPV) suicide drones in the field and deploy them on attack missions during a military exercise in Kenya earlier this year.
Officers want to train “whole platoons” to use the 3D printers, which would enable them to be “armed with a virtually endless supply” of weapons.
Robert Clark, a defence expert and visiting fellow at the Council on Geostrategy: the decision to use a Chinese company for the army’s 3D printing was “outrageous” and “shameful”.
“The Ministry of Defence are just not learning their lessons on this. We may as well be handing them the keys to the back door of our security systems.”
“The big picture is that the MoD is currently facing a £2.5B black hole for the next financial year, and they are clearly doing things now on the cheap. This is saying: ‘We don’t want to invest in British or even other Western companies which are more secure – let’s just turn to China to plug those gaps.’”
“This is 100% going to come back and bite the Army and the Government. It is a house of cards waiting to fall down, and when it does it is going to be severe.”
The Chinese government has classified 3D printing as a “strategic industry”, meaning huge state subsidies are available for companies.
Under China’s National Intelligence Law, passed in 2017, companies can be compelled to share data with the government, including filenames, timestamps and machine logs.
Ed Arnold, a senior research fellow for European security at the Royal United Services Institute: the use of the Chinese technology was “very concerning”. “China, Russia and North Korea are working together in a variety of areas. One area that is consistent is technology transfer. That is a core part of what is driving them together. The Chinese extract the data and then likely hand it to the Russians.”
3D printing is a “hot topic” in defense, particularly following the success Ukraine has had in making drones on the front lines of the war against Russia.
“So far they have mostly been used for printing drones – the parts are quick and cheap to make and you can make them anywhere. But people do not realise that every 3D printer has a tiny but powerful computer on the inside. There has not been a public discussion about security implications.”
Ministry of Defence (MoD): “There is no evidence that Bambu Labs printers store information which could be passed to Chinese authorities. 3D printers are not connected to the defence network and are not used to produce any sensitive materials.”
telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/