US Navy 3D Prints Drones and 1,000+ Parts Aboard an Aircraft Carrier at Sea

Containerized manufacturing at sea

The US Navy's RIMPAC exercise this summer included a test that most logistics officers only dream about. Firestorm Labs deployed its xCell platform aboard the USS Essex, loaded inside two expandable 20-foot ISO containers. Inside were HP Multi Jet Fusion polymer printers, semi-automated assembly stations, and the software stack to run them. The platform produced more than 1,000 parts during the voyage to Hawaii, including 12 Squall FPV drones that were later flown as adversary aircraft in a counter-UAS exercise.

What they actually printed

The headline items were the drones. Each Squall FPV can reach 80 mph, carry a 5.5-pound payload, and stay aloft for up to 42 minutes. Those are not toys. They are NDAA-compliant systems built for training and ISR roles. Beyond the drones, the crew printed Apache helicopter rotor droop-stops, custom vacuum-hose couplings for life preserver testing, electrical fitting covers, Starlink mounting brackets, and deck tie-down gauges. Most of those parts are small, but they are exactly the kind of items that normally require a supply ship or an airlift.

Why rough seas matter

The test ran while the ship encountered 12-foot waves. Conventional wisdom says you need a stable floor for precision polymer printing. xCell kept running. The system did not need a dedicated machine shop or a climate-controlled hangar. It occupied the same footprint as a standard shipping container and could be relocated as space allowed.

Firestorm Labs says every part printed on deck is one that does not need to be flown or shipped across contested waters. Repairs that used to take days or weeks while waiting on a resupply run now happen in hours, on station. That is the core argument for expeditionary additive manufacturing: compress the logistics tail by moving the factory closer to the fight.