With Russian tanks said to be rolling down the streets of the occupied Ukrainian cities of Donetsk and Luhansk, and Russia now in breach of the Minsk accords a full-scale conflict in the region is an increasingly realistic prospect.
Thus far, the majority of Western coverage on the Ukraine crisis has focused on the number of Russian troops on the country’s frontiers, with as many as 190,000 said to have been amassed at its borders, whether ready to embark on an all-out invasion or utilized as a bargaining tool.
但是，如果这种情况确实发生了，那么争取空中至高无上的战斗，并否认美国对关键战略资产（其航空母舰）的不受阻碍的诉讼，这一点引起了主流媒体的关注，对其结果也至关重要。。美国和俄罗斯以前曾使用3D打印来改善他们在这一领域的战斗准备，但后者似乎在西部偷走了一场游行，并加上了添加剂升级的MIG-31喷气式飞机。
通过开展UEC-Perm Motors和UEC-Star, an affiliate of the state-ownedRostec企业集团，据说这些改进已大大提高了俄罗斯拦截飞机的发动机性能。这些飞机还能够发射Kinzhal Hypersonic导弹，称为“匕首”，这是上周在其“ GROM”核三合会练习下进行的俄罗斯能力。
Extending the life of the MiG-31
即使Mikoyan Mig-31在1975年前首次由苏联空军首次飞行，但它仍然是世界上最快的战斗喷气机之一。但是，有Russia announcing plans为了将飞机的服务时间延长到2020年，将飞机的运作良好到2030年代，该国的工程师发现自己被迫寻找防止它们过时的新方法。
One way the Russian military has据说managed to achieve this, is by turning to the 3D printing capabilities of UEC-Perm Motors and UEC-Star. Specifically, engineers at the firms are said to have 3D printed parts of the MiG’s D-30F6 engine, which enable it to perform at ‘a new qualitative level,’ and with further R&D, it’s believed they could build ‘native engines’ that deliver ‘much better performance.’
虽然两家公司都没有公开的庞大，但前者宣传“飞机发动机的销售服务”，包括“服务寿命延长操作”，而后者是已知的一部分联合发动机公司(UEC), a Rostec affiliate.
同样，UEC的网站几乎没有提及其服务背后的技术，但是与国有公司的密切联系可能是更好地了解俄罗斯的MIG-31计划的关键。就在去年，Rostec获得了俄罗斯工业和贸易部的许可证连续3D打印航空航天零件, after asuccessful state-backed testof an additive-manufactured aircraft engine.
早在2018年，该公司也开设了其加法技术中心，分配了4450万美元，将其扩展到俄罗斯同类最大的设施之一。Rostec的综合体为其提供了一系列3D打印系统的访问权限，其子公司Ruselectronics此前曾透露，它正在开发一个航空航天EBAM部队，使其成为俄罗斯MIG升级的促进者。
Russia’s renewed aerial firepower
Worryingly for Ukraine and its allies, the enhancements made to Russia’s MiG-31s are said to have brought their top speed up from the 3,400 km/h they were previously capable of, making them an ideal mule for carrying to the altitude where launching a hypersonic weapon is less impeded by the atmosphere at ground level. For example, atmospheric conditions at 20 km exhibit both lower temperatures and less dense air. Operating in the troposphere reduces some of the challenges associated with ground launch, such as air friction causing aerodynamic heating.
实际上，俄罗斯空军是相信有测试its cutting-edge Dagger missile in ‘unspecified locations’ on February 19, 2022, as well as deploying it by submarine in the Black Sea, just south of Ukraine. Officially named the ‘Kinzhal,’ this next-gen weapon was first unveiled in 2018, when its Mach-12 flight capabilities据说worried Military Watch to such an extent, that it claimed the missile gave Russia the ability to “strike at Europe, at all ships in the Atlantic and the Pacific.”
Paired with the engine upgrades made to its MiG-31s, the Russian military may now have access to far more potent airstrikes with a much longer range than before. Additionally, the timing and proximity of the country’s Dagger tests could be ominous for those defending Ukrainian positions in the coming weeks, but that being said, Russia’s military is not the only one honing hypersonic technologies.
加强乌克兰的防御？
这美国国防部（国防部）还向重点介绍了新型高超音速飞行技术研发的项目，其中许多资金都提出了使用3D打印来实现这一目标的资金。
Since a代顿发展联盟2017年的会议，其中一支来自代顿大学提出，高级技术可用于建造无人驾驶”高超音速技术车辆，' 这美国空军一直测试HRL实验室的3D可打印陶瓷在他们的生产中NASA和达帕have进行了超声飞行测试alongsideAerojet Rocketdyneas well.
去年年底，国防部继续重申其对这一研究领域的承诺，awarding another $25.5 million in fundingto 18 related projects. Not long after, the美国海军表面战中心达尔格伦分部also announced plans to加倍高音导弹开发，目的是使用3D打印来开发将其确立为现场领导者的系统。
话虽这么说，毫无疑问，美国为提高高超音速飞行能力提供了大量现金，但是这适合乌克兰冲突？好吧，US moved its fighter jets本月初以支持其北约盟友，据说这些飞机是F-15鹰和F-16的混合体，前者的最高速度为3,008 km/h。
在其他地方，美国空军研究人员，例如上个月的研究人员AIAA SciTech Forum，继续发展反击高超声导弹威胁。Ukraine has also gained military support from the likes of Turkey, Canada, the UK, and more, which could include technologies to this effect, but just like Russia’s MiG program, it’s hard to tell for sure right now what role 3D printing will have to play.
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特色图片显示了俄罗斯空军Mikoyan-Gurevich Mig-31战斗机。通过Wikimedia Commons的照片。
