# US Army unit deploys drone assembled completely in-house, uses 3D-printed 'Dragoon Bombs' with ball bearing shrapnel — retained record

> Retained news record from news:toms-hardware.

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source: [news](https://highsignal.app/data/news) (news:toms-hardware)  published 2026-10-04 13:40 ingested 2026-10-05 02:55

[original source ↗](https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/drones/us-army-unit-deploys-drone-assembled-completely-in-house-uses-3d-printed-dragoon-bombs-with-ball-bearing-shrapnel-device-has-a-range-of-up-to-12-miles-and-can-be-configured-for-anti-personnel-and-anti-light-armor-missions)

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US Army unit deploys drone assembled completely in-house, uses 3D-printed 'Dragoon Bombs' with ball bearing shrapnel — device has a range of up to 12 miles and can be configured for anti-personnel and anti-light-armor missions
The military is applying lessons learned from Ukraine.
The U.S. Army’s 2nd Cavalry Regiment (2CR), based in Bavaria, Germany, has successfully launched an attack drone it claims is the first the unit has built and flown. According to Stars and Stripes, the soldiers of 2CR, also called Dragoons, used an Orqa MRM2-10 drone that they assembled and fitted with an electronic safety and arming device attached to a 3D-printed casing called “Dragoon bombs.” The explosives in the bomb could also be modified, such as adding ball bearings to target enemy personnel or using a shaped charge to defeat light armor. You can see the drone in action in the video embedded below.
“This is a conventional Army first, potentially an Army-wide first as far as a live, kinetic drone strike conducted without any contractor support (or) any external unit support,” company commander Capt. Michael Bapp said to the publication.
Regiment commander Col. Timothy Price also added, “Today’s success live strike using systems made by our Dragoons, armed by our Dragoons, and executed by our Dragoons, displays that we are adapting what we have on-hand now to meet the threat with a capable and credible force.”
While large UAVs have been used in combat by the U.S. military for decades, the use of small commercial drones for war gained widespread attention after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. The cost efficiency and relative availability of these devices helped Ukraine offset Russia’s numerical advantage. Both sides now use drones for tactical and strategic missions, and the military deployment of these systems has even spread to other conflicts and war zones, including those in the Middle East.
All the drone action that played out on the front lines of Ukraine caught the attention of the U.S. military, which is why its various branches have been experimenting with them. The U.S. Army has started a three-week boot camp that trains soldiers in 3D printing and drone piloting, called the Unmanned Advanced Lethality Course, and is building in-house capabilities to build and repair them. Meanwhile, the U.S. Marine Corps has created its own 3D-printed drone with zero China-sourced parts, while the U.S. Navy is bringing containerized drone fabrication aboard aircraft carriers.
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Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He’s been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he’s been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics.
- Blastomonas Don't get it. Is this supposed to be impressive?
On the issue of ball bearings, wouldn't have thought this would be acceptable. Reply
- Why_Me Blastomonas said:Don't get it. Is this supposed to be impressive?
On the issue of ball bearings, wouldn't have thought this would be acceptable.We've been using Claymore mines for years. They trained us on them in basic training ('82). Reply
- Flayed Blastomonas said:Don't get it. Is this supposed to be impressive?
On the issue of ball bearings, wouldn't have thought this would be acceptable.Seems trivial compared to, say, dropping a Tomahawk missile on a school. Reply
- bill001g What do they think all the plastic injection molding factories that can pump out plastic parts are all destroyed and they have to print weapons in the field. Do the writers of these articles even use 3d printers. The plastic print fiber is way to sensitive to water/humidity not something you are going to try to do in the middle of a muddy field.
If 3d printing was so effective they would just print soda bottle rather than injection mold them. 3d print is really useful for protype and very low volume specialized parts almost everything else seem to be a advertisement from printer makers. Reply
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