A bill to require the Secretary of Defense to establish a pilot program to evaluate the safety, quality, and qualification pathways of printable energetic feedstocks for controlled additive manufacturing applications.

If this passes, the Department of Defense will invest resources in standardizing and certifying 3D-printed explosives and propellants for military use. This could accelerate development of on-demand munitions and propulsion manufacturing, reducing supply chain dependencies but potentially creating safety challenges in powder handling and quality control. The pilot program establishes regulatory pathways that could enable broader adoption across military production. Analogous programs at the state level (such as aerospace manufacturing initiatives) and prior Pentagon additive manufacturing initiatives show that standardization typically leads to scaled production and cost savings, though supply chain security benefits must be balanced against technical risks inherent in explosive powder manufacturing.