The US Military Is 3D-Printing Warheads

Mother Jones
by Sophie Hurwitz
April 23, 2026
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2 min read

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The US Army successfully 3D-printed and tested a drone-based warhead prototype called BRAKER.

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The US Army announced it successfully 3D-printed a drone-based warhead prototype, named the BRAKER, and used it to explode a target. This prototype was demonstrated in an April 21 video, blowing up a makeshift bunker at a military testing site. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, whom President Donald Trump calls “the drone guy,” stated the military is applying lessons from Ukraine’s use of cheap, replicable drones. The Pentagon is pushing to triple drone-related spending to $74 billion as its budget is slated to crest $1 trillion this year. This initiative is part of a larger push for high-tech, cheap munitions, with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth urging acceleration in weapons-tech development.

What's Being Done

The Pentagon is pushing to triple drone-related spending to $74 billion as its budget is slated to crest $1 trillion this year.

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