Defense And UAS Additive Manufacturing
Reduce Weight. Adapt The Platform.
Build For The Mission.
3D printed parts for UAS development, field support, and production.
Mission-Focused Parts
Faster Iteration
Flexible Production
Defense and unmanned aircraft programs have to keep up with changing payloads, shifting mission requirements, tight supply chains, and tough operating environments. Additive gives your engineering and manufacturing teams a practical way to shorten development cycles, cut weight, and make complex parts without waiting on tooling.
We work with UAS developers, defense manufacturers, integrators, research organizations, and sustainment teams on airframe hardware, payload integration, rugged enclosures, airflow components, production tooling, replacement parts, and repeatable low-volume production.
A Flexible Partner For Defense UAS
From Concept to Deployment
UAS programs mean fast iteration, lightweight structures, specialized geometry, frequent payload changes, and volumes that don’t justify conventional tooling. Additive gives you an efficient path from early prototypes and flight-test hardware to recurring production and sustainment.
We run selective laser sintering and polymer powder bed fusion (SLS/PBF), vat photopolymerization (SLA/VPP), and material extrusion (MEX), so we can match the process and material to your part’s mechanical, dimensional, environmental, and documentation needs, instead of forcing every project onto one technology.
Where We Can Help
Airframe and structural hardware
Lightweight brackets, fairings, covers, access panels, landing components, and noncritical structural elements.
Payload and sensor integration
Gimbal interfaces, sensor mounts, antenna brackets, equipment trays, protective housings, and mission-specific adapters.
Airflow and thermal management
Ducts, vents, plenums, cooling passages, fan shrouds, and routing components with complex internal geometry.
Electronics protection
Rugged enclosures, battery covers, cable guides, connector guards, strain relief, and environmental protection components.
Manufacturing and test support
Assembly fixtures, drill guides, inspection aids, transport nests, ground-support tools, and flight-test hardware.
Sustainment and replacement parts
Digitally stored spares, obsolete components, field-repair aids, bridge production, and low-volume service parts.
The Right Process For The Application
Multiple Polymer Technologies
Not sure which process fits? That’s our job.
SLS/PBF
makes tough engineering-polymer parts and complex shapes without support structures.
SLA/VPP
is great for fine features, smooth surfaces, aerodynamic models, tooling, and specialized resins.
MEX
is fast, works with a wide range of thermoplastics, and handles manufacturing aids and larger parts.
We’ll compare loading, environment, geometry, quantity, and program requirements, then walk you through the tradeoffs before recommending a path.
Increase Capability Without Unnecessary Weight
Design for Additive Manufacturing
On a UAS, every gram counts against endurance, payload, range, and handling. Additive lets your engineers put material where it carriers load and take it away where it doesn’t, while building in geometry that would be hard to mold or machine.
Got an assembly made from several conventionally manufactured pieces? It might be redesigned as a single printed part, which could mean fewer fasteners and wiring supports, less inventory and assembly labor, and fewer points of failure.
Engineering Opportunities
- Lightweight structures and material-efficient geometry.
- Rapid payload, sensor, and antenna integration.
- Integrated ducts, cable paths, guides, and mounting points.
- Part consolidation and reduced assembly complexity.
- Mission-specific variants without dedicated tooling.
- Reduced tooling, spare-parts inventory, and obsolescence risk.
Accelerate Development And Testing
Move from CAD to Hardware Faster
UAS development never sits still: payloads, center-of-gravity targets, electronics, antennas, batteries, and environmental requirements keep changing. We help you get from CAD to hardware fast, so new configurations can be installed, tested, flown, and revised earlier in the program.
You can build multiple design variants without committing to hard tooling. That’s especially valuable for experimental aircraft, rapid capability development, flight-test programs, small fleets, and missions systems that need to evolve as operational needs change.
Support Low-Volume And Legacy Parts
Manufacture What Is Difficult to Source
Defense platforms and support equipment often rely on specialized parts made in small quantities. And programs may need to support deployed systems long after the original tooling, inventory, or suppliers are gone.
Additive gives you a practical option for low-volume, bridge, and replacement parts without new molds or big inventories. Send us the existing part, a drawing, a CAD file, or a physical sample, and we’ll tell you honestly whether additive is a viable sustainment path.
Engineering And Manufacturing Support
More Than a Print Service
A good UAS or defense part takes more than picking a material and hitting print. We look at the whole application: loads, vibration, operating temperature, UV and chemical exposure, dimensions, surface finish, where it’s installed, how it’ll be inspected, how many you need, and the conditions it’ll see in service.
Application and manufacturability reviews
Design for additive manufacturing
Process and material selection
Prototype and first-article production
Dimensional inspection
Mechanical testing
Post-processing and surface finishing
Process documentation and traceability
Repeat production planning
Quality Matched To Your Application
Quality and Qualification
Concept models, ground-support tools, test articles, non-flight parts, and flight hardware all come with very different requirements. We’ll work with you to sort out the documentation, material control, traceability, inspection, testing, configuration management, and qualification your part actually needs.
Program-specific requirements may include customer approvals, controlled technical data, export restrictions, cybersecurity expectations, source and lot traceability, first-article inspection, or environmental testing. These needs should be identified before quoting and production so the manufacturing and validation plan can be evaluated.
Final airworthiness, system qualification, and authorization for use remain the responsibility of the customer and applicable program authority.