“Why carry around drones when they can be printed on the spot? Army researchers say they can do just that: 3D print a quadcopter airframe. Better yet, they are developing a system to allow soldiers to customize their drones to meet specific mission needs. ‘A soldier can input certain specifications – things like range and endurance and necessary payload carrying – and the software tool will tailor a vehicle based on those mission needs, based on what parts are available,’ said John Gerbes, a mechanical engineer at Army Research Lab (ARL).”
Source: For the Army, a 3-D printed drone is nice. A customized, 3-D printed drone is better.