Print&Live and iSCALE 3D's airless UGV wheels log 361 km in combat trials at €680 a set
A set of 3D printed airless wheels for unmanned ground vehicles now costs about €680, against $3,000-4,000 or more for comparable imported airless sets, according to Ukrainian developers Print&Live UA and iSCALE 3D. The pair has finished field and combat trials and is already running small batches to combat units, with more printing equipment going in to cover both brigades and UGV makers moving into series production.
The heaviest data point comes from the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade, which fitted the wheels to a TARGAN 3K 244 EVO 1 UGV: 210 km on a test range, then 151 km across 11 combat missions in winter temperatures between 0°C and −15°C, carrying 1,825 kg of cargo and evacuating one wounded person. Tread wear was moderate but the wheels stayed functional throughout. A second trial, with the 49th Separate Assault Battalion “Karpatska Sich,” put the wheels on a roughly 600-800 kg Rys Pro UGV crossing boggy and frozen ground while towing another robot. No delamination or structural cracking was reported.
| Metric | Printed airless | Comparison |
|---|---|---|
| Set price | ~€680 | $3,000-4,000+ imported airless |
| Set weight | 32-56 kg | 88-144 kg Western airless, 30-72 kg pneumatic |
| Claimed range gain | up to 30% | vs. imported airless alternatives |
The wheel is a digitally designed lattice in high-load elastomers and polymer composites, with fully enclosed sidewalls rather than the exposed cellular structure used on designs like the Michelin Tweel, which the developers say packs with battlefield debris. A patented two-piece rim lets technicians swap tyres with hand tools, no tyre-changing press required.
The company has not published the elastomer formulation, the printer model or build size used, independent verification of the 30% range figure, or unit cost at the brigade’s own production scale.