3D Printer: Repair the fighter MiG-31

On December 20, 2019, Russia’s United Aviation Manufacturing Group issued an official press release of "3D printed MiG fighter jets". The article stated that Russia’s United Aviation Manufacturing Group held an annual competition for the improvement of the production system within the group. A subsidiary of MiG Alexei, the chief design engineer of the Nizhny Novgorod "Eagle" Aircraft Manufacturing Plant, used 3D printing technology to quickly repair the MiG-31 fighter jet. He won two annual awards, which caused a huge sensation at the award ceremony. , Because in the past few people could win two awards by one person.

The MiG-31 fighter is a high-speed interceptor. It is a specific fighter type of the Soviet/Russian Air Force in a specific combat environment. It is equipped with phased array radar and is equipped with multiple long-range missiles. It is fast and has high interception accuracy. It is mainly deployed in strategic locations in the Soviet Union and is responsible for intercepting enemy bombers that sneak into the Soviet Union for strategic/combat bombing. At present, the Russian army is still equipped with more than 130 MiG-31BM/BSM interceptors, which have been upgraded to extend their service life. The MiG-31 fighter is a heavy fighter. Alexei and his team found that if parts were tested in the traditional way, 11 processes were required. It takes 340 hours to produce new parts. If 3D printing is used, only 4 processes are required. The production time is only 29 hours, and because the printing material is mainly ABS plastic, the cost can be reduced by 98.7%. Therefore, 3D printing can greatly speed up the production of parts and reduce R&D costs.

Alexei said: "The success of this project tells us that everyone has the opportunity to prove that a soldier can show great wisdom in solving specific problems on the battlefield."

The 3D printer used by MiG’s chief design engineer Alexei to repair MiG-31 fighters comes from AliExpress brand Flsun-Zhengzhou Chaokuo Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. For this official Russian news, Flsun Chairman Shen Kangyu was very surprised. But he said he was not surprised by the application of 3D printers in the military field. 

 Shen Kangyu said: "This news was forwarded to me after my colleague discovered it. I searched it on the Internet. The popularity was quite high. When I was a child, I also knew that Russian aircrafts are very high-end, like the MiG series fighters. , I feel that my own products can be used on this fighter, and I am still very happy. Because the important role of 3D printers is to develop accessories, if MiG wants to repair fighters, it is not surprising to use 3D printers, engineers can directly print what they want Repair parts, 3D printing technology has this ability."