Airmen with the Hill Air Force Base, Utah-based 574thAircraft Maintenance Squadron replaced a faulty bracket on an F-22 fighter — something they do all the time. The difference here, however, is the bracket was fabricated using a 3-D printer. The replacement part is made of corrosion-proof material, and replaces a part in the cockpit’s kick panel assembly that typically needs to be swapped out 80 percent of the time the planes undergo maintenance inspections. The new part can be delivered to wherever it is needed within three days. Maintenance crews plan to monitor the new part’s effectiveness and make adjustments to future part-printing endeavors, should they be required. In time, the service intends to expand 3-D printing — also known as additive manufacturing — to include more sophisticated parts and materials. As it stands, the service has five more such metallic F-22 parts in mind for additive manufacturing.