Navy 3D Prints Drones Aboard Ship During RIMPAC 2026

The U.S. Navy ran its largest advanced manufacturing experiment this summer during RIMPAC 2026, and the results point toward a very different logistics model for ships at sea.

Firestorm Labs deployed its containerized xCell 3D printing platform aboard the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Essex as the exercise got underway in the Pacific. The setup printed over 1,000 parts while the ship was underway, including 12 complete Squall first-person-view drones that service members later flew as adversary aircraft during a counter-drone drill.

The printer also produced mechanical test components and repair parts the crew needed, all while waves reached 12 feet. That sea state matters: it means the system did not just sit in a calm lab. It worked in the conditions a real amphibious group would face.

Why print on board instead of resupplying

Every part printed on deck is one less part that has to be flown or shipped across contested waters. Rear Admiral Michael Mattis, director of fleet integration and innovation for Pacific Fleet, called RIMPAC the largest advanced manufacturing event the Department of Defense has ever held. The exercise tied shipboard printers to autonomous drone resupply runs, cutting turnaround time for replacement parts from days or weeks down to hours.

In one demonstration, a 10-foot Typhoon water-surface drone from Splash Industries docked itself inside the Essex while the ship moved at about 10 knots. The crew loaded cargo onto the drone for the return trip without a remote pilot. A larger Splash drone later navigated 85 miles through rough seas at night to reach the USS Theodore Roosevelt, the exercise's lead vessel, which also carried a 3D hybrid-metal printer.

What comes next

The test shows the Navy is treating additive manufacturing as a combat multiplier, not just a convenience. If the concept scales, ships could carry spools of plastic and metal wire instead of warehouses of replacement parts. That changes how vessels are loaded, how long they can stay on station, and what they can repair when the supply line breaks.