Ukraine is 3D-printing its way to victory

The term itself isn’t new. It was first coined by analyst John Robb in the mid-2000s and popularised in his 2007 book Brave New War. But it seems that the Ukraine War has made it a concrete reality, embodied by an information-sharing platform created by Ukraine’s defence ministry. 

TrophyLab gives direct access to technical documentation, blueprints and analytics about captured Russian military equipment – it’s effectively a crowdsourced database of what the enemy is packing, how it works and how to replicate (or counteract) specific weaponry. 

Covering armoured vehicles, missiles, aircraft, UAVs, electronic warfare assets, and cruise missiles, this is basically a Wikipedia of the Russian military tech stack, reverse-engineered from captured assets and shared with selected allies.

The stated aim is, simply, to ensure that “counter technologies are created faster than the enemy can update theirs.” 

Access is by application only and is limited to Ukrainian defence manufacturers, military units, scientific institutions, and international partners who are actively supporting Ukraine’s war effort. 

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Those granted license to view the information, though, will get a deep, detailed insight into enemy capabilities. In some cases, captured equipment is completely disassembled. 

The potential implications are huge, not least in terms of how initiatives like this will colour approaches to warfare; after all, you’re likely to be concerned about what happens to your tanks out in the field if there’s a risk their capture could be directly weaponised against you. It will also shift the calculus of deploying technologies that are more advanced than those of your enemy.

This is just the latest way in which the Ukraine war has begun to redefine war. One early innovation established by the president’s office and the ministry for digital transformation was the creation of United24, the country’s official crowdfunding platform, which allows anonymous donations from anyone, anywhere to support the country’s war effort. 

Then there’s been the central role played by 3D printing. Over on the DrukArmy website, which is not affiliated with the Ukrainian administration, but endorsed by a range of active military units – an army of enthusiastic supporters across Europe swap plans, files and ideas on how to support the war effort.

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For curious visitors looking to help, the website says: “the simplest option is to buy a 3D printer. We have a school with comprehensive information that allows anyone to learn high-quality printing, even those without technical experience or prior knowledge of 3D printing. In DrukArmy, both children and the elderly print – anyone can learn and become part of this great cause.” 

According to the site, the community has delivered an astonishing 19 million items to the front, engineered and produced by ordinary civilians and covering everything from mechanical safety switches and LED torches to antennas to help steer drones. 

It’s like a strange, warped throwback to the early, utopian ideals of the web – people working collaboratively, sharing information which used to be privileged, democratising production and intelligence… except rather than embodying hippy ideals it’s in an attempt to stop the march of a Russian dictator. 

This is what war looks like now: anyone can buy in to show their support, anyone can help make a bomb or a gun or a drone, intel is not just the preserve of the spies, but instead lives across a broad spread of people and web portals. When a homemade drone jerry-rigged together from domestic 3D prints and salvaged parts can take out a Russian helicopter, the trajectory of a conflict becomes much harder to predict. 

When John Robb first wrote about “open-source warfare”, he was specifically referring to insurgents. Now it’s an approach adopted at state level. Whatever the eventual outcome of the Ukraine war, all our future conflicts will likely be just like this one: decentralised, tech-first and accessible to anyone who wants to take part.