British Army risks giving Beijing a real-time window into battlefield operations via Chinese-made 3D printers

Josef Průša, Founder and CEO of Prusa Research, writing exclusively for LBC Opinion, said the UK must treat 3D-printing technology as “strategic infrastructure”, warning that China’s near-total control of the global market poses a security threat comparable to the Huawei 5G controversy.

Chinese companies now produce more than 90 per cent of the world’s desktop 3D printers, after Beijing designated additive manufacturing a priority industry under its Made in China 2025 strategy.

According to Průša, that dominance is not just industrial but geopolitical, granting the Chinese state access to the data these machines quietly collect.

“Every 3D printer is in fact a little computer,” he wrote. “It stores and transmits information about what it creates. If a printer is Chinese-made, it is, by law, connected to a government that routinely positions itself against Western strategic interests.”

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Průša said a US tech firm recently discovered more than 100 gigabytes of operational data being transmitted from its printers to servers in China overnight, warning that the same risk applies to British universities, research labs and even military units.

British Army teams are increasingly deploying 3D printers in the field to manufacture drone components and parts for rapid repairs. According to Průša, these devices could reveal supply-chain gaps, material shortages or even geolocation metadata to the Chinese Communist Party.

“In a real wartime scenario, the implications are huge,” he wrote. “If your printers are Chinese, you are effectively giving Beijing a live feed of where your weaknesses lie.”

His warning comes as the Government faces fresh pressure over Chinese interference following a stark MI5 alert to MPs, peers and parliamentary staff.

Security minister Dan Jarvis told the Commons that China is attempting to “recruit and cultivate” individuals with access to sensitive political information, often using head-hunters and cover companies. MI5 named two recruiters linked to China’s Ministry of State Security, warning they were targeting people in Westminster and associated networks.

Jarvis said the activity amounted to a “covert and calculated attempt” to interfere in UK affairs, announcing a new “espionage action plan” that will include protective-security campaigns, briefings for political parties, and £300 million in new measures to safeguard encrypted government systems and help businesses protect intellectual property.

The growing concerns have prompted renewed calls for China to be placed in the enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme. Ministers have also come under pressure to block the proposed new Chinese embassy near Tower Bridge, amid fears about its proximity to sensitive infrastructure.

Průša said the UK must now apply the same scrutiny to manufacturing tools that it applied to Huawei and to Chinese CCTV cameras, which were stripped from government buildings over security concerns.

“Britain wouldn’t buy fighter jet engines or radar systems from a strategic rival,” he wrote. “It must take the same approach to the manufacturing tools embedded in its security ecosystem. The question is no longer whether we can afford to buy secure technology, but whether we can afford not to.”

He urged Europe to rebuild a trusted, sovereign 3D-printing sector before the remaining independent manufacturers are squeezed out entirely.

“3D printers are not toys,” he said. “They are the factories of the future. And China already treats them that way.”