Firestorm produced more than 1,000 components for Squall UAVs and other critical equipment during a two-week voyage aboard the USS Essex. By DRONELIFE Features Editor Jim Magill With the goal of helping to ensure the U.S. military has rapid access to the tools needed to fulfill its mission, a San Diego-based manufacturer recently demonstrated its ability to manufacture UAV … [Read more...] about A Drone Factory at Sea: Firestorm Labs Tests Onboard Manufacturing with U.S. Navy
additive manufacturing
Engineering Without Compromise: How HP Additive Manufacturing Helped EIVIE Build an NDAA-Compliant Drone
For one startup drone manufacturer, additive manufacturing made it possible to preserve an ambitious aerodynamic design while adapting quickly to changing requirements. Every new generation of drones brings new challenges. Customers demand new capabilities. Regulations require different components. Supply chain requirements force manufacturers to redesign new motors, GPS … [Read more...] about Engineering Without Compromise: How HP Additive Manufacturing Helped EIVIE Build an NDAA-Compliant Drone
As Drone Demand Grows, Protolabs Scales On-Demand Manufacturing
New CNC machining and 3D printing capabilities aim to help drone manufacturers move from prototype to production faster As commercial and defense drone programs continue to expand, manufacturers face growing pressure to shorten development cycles while maintaining quality. Digital manufacturing company Protolabs (NYSE: PRLB) says it is responding by expanding its rapid … [Read more...] about As Drone Demand Grows, Protolabs Scales On-Demand Manufacturing
US Drone Makers Are Building a Different Kind of Factory
Additive Manufacturing Helps Build Flexibility, Scale, and Supply Chain Resilience At AUVSI’s XPONENTIAL 2026 conference in Detroit, one theme surfaced repeatedly across panels and interviews: the future of U.S. drone manufacturing may not look anything like the mass-production model pioneered in China. Instead of trying to recreate enormous factories optimized for millions … [Read more...] about US Drone Makers Are Building a Different Kind of Factory
Designing the Optimal Drone: How HP Additive Manufacturing Enables Speed, Scale, and Supply-Chain Flexibility
The drone industry is under pressure from multiple directions at once. Manufacturers are expected to move faster, iterate more often, scale production without overcommitting capital, and build supply chains that are easily identifiable, secure, and resilient. Increasingly, those pressures are forcing a rethink of how drones are designed and manufactured, not just how they … [Read more...] about Designing the Optimal Drone: How HP Additive Manufacturing Enables Speed, Scale, and Supply-Chain Flexibility
