Drones are certainly one of the latest and greatest in military technology. They are being used against land and sea targets with good effect, and they'll only be growing more versatile as our military members find new uses for them. (My money's on the E-4 Mafia where innovation is concerned.)
Now, a tech company and the United States Navy are working on a way to 3-D print drones aboard ship, presumably while at sea.
A defense technology company produced 3D-printed drones aboard a Navy ship at sea using a containerized microfactory, aiding the Navy in its pursuit of easily built autonomous technology that can quickly boost a warship’s weapons capacity.
Firestorm Labs manufactured more than 1,000 parts and 12 of its proprietary 3D-printable first-person view Squall drones aboard the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Essex as it transited toward RIMPAC 2026 in Hawaii, according to a release.
“Every part xCell printed on deck is one that doesn’t need to be flown or shipped across contested waters — cutting the fuel, aircraft hours, and personnel it takes to keep a ship operational,” a social media release said. “Repairs that once meant days or weeks waiting on a resupply run can now happen in hours, on station.”
Notice the implication here? It's all about logistics. Instead of shipping pallets of drones to ports to be loaded aboard ships, or stocking them on replenishment ships, they may be able to make them on the ship.
There's just one catch: The raw materials to make the drone will necessarily take up the same space and weight as the drones themselves. So, there would have to be some added advantage, right? Making parts on demand would be one such advantage.
Firestorm Labs created the xCell as a factory-in-a-box that can be deployed aboard U.S. Navy vessels to churn out unmanned aerial systems and spare parts for expeditionary warfare.
As waves as high as 12 feet crashed against the ship, service members assembled drones that were later flown as adversary aircraft during a counter-drone exercise at RIMPAC 2026 in Hawaii.
The service members also helped print mechanical test components that assessed the efficacy of the 3D printer used for drone production and fabricated military repair parts that crew members of the USS Essex needed.
Here's another notion: While being able to quickly fabricate not only drones but also repair parts, there's another possibility. What about creating drones custom-tailored for specific purposes? Flying drones, sea drones, submarine drones; drones for reconnaissance, drones to intercept other drones, drones to attack ships. The possibilities seem endless.
Firestorm Labs describes this as Expeditionary Manufacturing, which appears to consist of a containerized, industrial-scale 3-D printing setup. Needless to say, this could have uses far beyond printing drones. This is something that may also be useful for fabricating parts for the very ship it resides on, or for other ships in the fleet.
And, sure, the E-4 Mafia will probably find other ways of using this technology. If there's a way to make a job easier, those E-4s will find it.
It's an amazing modern world we live in.
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