The Navy and a private firm tested building full drones at sea using a containerized 3-D printing setup, demonstrating quick on-deck production of airframes, spare parts, and custom systems that could change how ships handle logistics and repairs.
The experiment took place aboard an amphibious assault ship and focused on printing both replacement components and complete unmanned aircraft systems without waiting for resupply. Producing drones and parts on-site promises to shrink dependency on long supply chains and reduce the time ships are vulnerable while waiting for parts. This effort targets operational resilience at sea, where access to shore-based factories is limited or contested.
The idea is simple: bring a factory to the ship instead of bringing parts to the ship. That shifts the bottleneck from finished goods to raw materials and printed designs, which could be a net gain if the right materials and digital blueprints are managed efficiently. On-demand fabrication also changes maintenance cycles, letting sailors print what they need as a repair or mission requirement arises.
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.”
The technical limits are obvious: printed drones still require raw feedstock that occupies space and weight aboard ship, which means logistics planning stays important. But printing parts on demand can reduce the need for spare-part inventories and lower the number of distinct stock items that must be carried. In contested environments, the ability to avoid sending palletized systems across hostile seas matters as much as the parts themselves.
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.
Operational benefits go beyond replacing broken items; printing lets crews iterate on designs and tailor drones to specific missions. Teams could produce reconnaissance configurations one day and swap in intercept or payload-focused variants the next, all from the same digital library. That kind of adaptability is particularly valuable for smaller vessels that cannot embark large, specialized stores.
The containerized approach makes the concept deployable across different ship classes, so a single xCell or similar unit can support a task group rather than only one hull. If a unit fits on deck or in a vehicle bay and plugs into ship power, it becomes a mobile production hub the fleet can move where needed. That flexibility could be a strategic force multiplier if doctrine and logistics evolve to exploit it.
Challenges remain: quality assurance for printed parts under operational stress, supply of polymers and metals, and secure distribution of design files so adversaries cannot reverse engineer critical systems. Those are solvable problems, but they require disciplined processes and investment in standards for naval additive manufacturing. Training sailors to operate and maintain the printers is a parallel requirement, and the service members who worked the trial already helped validate some of those human factors.
From a conservative perspective, this is the kind of practical innovation our military should pursue: efficient, resilient, and focused on keeping ships ready without unnecessary dependence on distant supply chains. Leadership that prioritizes readiness and gives the fleet tools to operate independently at sea is doing exactly what a strong navy needs. The technology isn’t a silver bullet, but it’s a meaningful step toward smarter logistics and faster repairs.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and War Secretary Pete Hegseth’s leadership, the warrior ethos is coming back to America’s military.
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