Firestorm Labs demos expeditionary 3D printing aboard USS Essex in heavy seas

Published Aug 7, 06:03 AM UTC

Firestorm Labs successfully demonstrated expeditionary manufacturing aboard the USS Essex amphibious assault ship during heavy seas en route to the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise. The company used HP's multi-jet fusion 3D printing technology inside its xCell unit—two 20-foot containers—to print thousands of unique parts, including rotor stops for Apache helicopters and a dozen Squall first-person-view drones. The drones were later used as adversary aircraft in a counter-drone exercise at RIMPAC. CEO Dan Magy emphasized the system's resilience in Sea State 5 conditions and positioned the capability as a contested logistics solution for maintaining legacy systems and producing attritable drones near the point of need. The demonstration highlights growing military interest in forward-deployed additive manufacturing to address supply chain vulnerabilities in contested environments.