Airbus Showcases 3D-Printed Unmanned Aircraft, ‘THOR’ At Berlin Airshow

Airbus has presented a 3D-printed unmanned aircraft, ‘THOR’ at the Berlin Airshow.

Windowless, weighing in at just 21 kilos (46 pounds) and less than 4 meters (13 feet) long, the drone Thor – short for "Test of High-tech Objectives in Reality" – resembles a large, white model airplane, AFP reported Sunday.

"This is a test of what's possible with 3D printing technology," Detlev Konigorski, who was in charge of developing Thor for Airbus was quoted as saying by AFP at the International Aerospace Exhibition and Air Show at Berlin's southern Schoenefeld airport.

"We want to see if we can speed up the development process by using 3D printing not just for individual parts but for an entire system."

In Thor, the only parts that are not printed from a substance called polyamide are the electrical elements.

The little plane "flies beautifully, it is very stable," said its chief engineer Gunnar Haase, who conducted Thor's inaugural flight last November near the northern German city of Hamburg.