China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp, the nation's largest missile maker, is taking advantage of additive manufacturing technology, commonly known as 3D printing, to accelerate the design and production of cruise missiles, engineers said.

"It takes about one to two months for dozens of technicians and workers to manufacture a gas rudder (used on a cruise missile) with traditional machining methods because it involves a succession of processes like casting and welding," said Zhang Chunhu, a senior technician at CASIC's Third Academy. "And a rudder is only a small part on a missile, so you can imagine how much manpower and time it takes to build a whole cruise missile by traditional means.