Modern naval warfare is rapidly evolving at a time when drones are becoming an effective tool that navies cannot do without. The conflicts in Ukraine and Iran have demonstrated the effectiveness of drones in combat, leading to an increase in advancements in small, replaceable drones. The use of drones in naval warfare is becoming more common, to the point where drone swarms are becoming a threat to aircraft carriers, highlighting the need to deploy drone capabilities at sea.
While these drones are generally cost-effective, the logistics of getting them to U.S. Navy ships at sea are a bigger problem due to high costs and delays. Firestorm Labs demonstrated a solution to this problem by installing a containerized 3D printing facility aboard a Navy ship, which manufactured first-person view (FPV) drones called Squall. This was done while on his way to a Navy exercise called Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC). The drone parts were additively manufactured and assembled on the ship.
Firestorm Labs is one of several companies that demonstrated additive manufacturing technologies during RIMPAC 2026. The exercise was used as a large-scale technology demonstration effort, with the Navy’s Project Overmatch (a massive AI-powered data aggregation project) also being tested. The companies had the opportunity to demonstrate additive manufacturing technology for different uses as part of a Naval Postgraduate School initiative. The Firestorm solution printed more than 1,000 parts during deployment on the USS Essex, including spares for other uses aboard the ship.
The firestorm
Firestorm’s goal has always been to solve logistical challenges by providing expeditionary manufacturing capabilities using 3D printing technology. Firestorm produces a containerized 3D printing facility called Xcell, and by partnering with Orqa FPVs, the two companies have created a system capable of manufacturing high-end military drones in remote locations (like a ship at sea) as needed. The result of this collaboration was the Squall FPV drone, based on existing Orqa drone technology, but optimized for additive manufacturing.
Orqa has two main drone platforms, called MRM1-5 and MRM2-10, which have already been combat tested in the war in Ukraine. The Squall FPV drone can carry payloads of 5.5 pounds at speeds up to 80 mph over a range of approximately 20 miles. They can be used as attack platforms, small carrier drones or surveillance platforms. After their manufacture, Squall drones were used as adversaries to “red cell” unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for counter-UAS exercises, which involved training naval crews to neutralize incoming drones.
3D printing on board ships will become a standard requirement
During the exercise, Firestorm and some of the other protesters not only printed drone parts, but also replacement parts, including rotor sag stops for Apache Helicopters, which play a key role in ensuring that a helicopter’s rotor blades do not sag when parked, where they could hit the ship’s deck and be damaged in rough seas. This is a great example of how 3D printed parts can help reduce costs, since each of Apache’s rotor blades costs around $230,000. This isn’t the first time the Navy has tested this.
American aircraft carriers already use 3D printed parts and thus significantly reduce availability times. Other items requested by the crew were fabricated during the exercise, including a vacuum adapter for testing inflatable rescue units, deck tie-down gauges, reverse-engineered valve handwheels and even Starlink brackets. This demonstrated that additive manufacturing capability could become a critical requirement for future Navy ships. Manufacturing replacement parts aboard ships like the USS Essex could significantly alleviate supply chain issues that typically make obtaining replacement parts expensive and prone to delays.
Beyond its uses in manufacturing spare parts, 3D printing can be used to make medical equipment for ships like the Essex, which also functions as a forward-deployed medical ship and crisis support ship during disaster response. If 3D printed surgical tools can be effectively sterilized, medical tools for specific purposes can be manufactured as needed.
