Marines Learn to 3D Print Raiding Craft, Attack Drones in the Western Pacific

U.S. Marines with Intermediate Repair Company, 3rd Maintenance Battalion, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, and Department of Navy civilians from Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock, ride in a remote-control Foam Raiding Craft during Valiant Shield 26 at White Beach, Okinawa, Japan, June 29, 2026. US Marine Corps photo Marines are learning how to 3D print raiding craft and attack drones while in theater as part of recent exercises in Hawaii, Japan and South Korea.

During Exercise Valiant Shield, U.S. Marines with Intermediate Repair Company, 3rd Maintenance Battalion, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, worked with engineers from Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock on a demonstration known as Manufacturing Attritable Systems at Scale, or MASS, an initiative focused on rapidly producing low-cost maritime platforms using deployable manufacturing equipment and commercially available materials, according to a release. The exercise ran from June 22-July 1 in the Northern Marianas, Guam and Japan.

The demonstration saw Marines and NSWCC personnel constructing a 7-meter foam raiding craft designed to be manufactured entirely in theater. Rather than showcasing a single boat, the project demonstrated a manufacturing process capable of producing a variety of expeditionary platforms close to the point of need.

“The shape of the hull is not the goal,” Marissa Stecko, a mechanical engineer supporting logistics and manufacturing operations with NSWCC, said in the news release. “It’s the manufacturing that we’re trying to showcase.”

The capability was demonstrated June 29 during operational testing at White Beach Naval Facility in Okinawa, Japan. After being transported from the fabrication site, the completed 7-meter foam craft entered the water equipped with a 300-horsepower Mercury outboard engine and an autonomous control system developed by Fort Robotics. In the demonstration, the vessel completed both manned and unmanned operations, including autonomous waypoint navigation.

U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Madison Georgia, a machinist with Intermediate Repair Company, 3rd Maintenance Battalion, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, uses a computer numerical control machine during Valiant Shield 26 on Camp Kinser, Okinawa, Japan, June 22, 2026. Intermediate Repair Company participated in Resilient Advanced Manufacturing for Contested Environments, or RAMFORCE, an initiative hosted by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. US Marine Corps photo Though remote-control distances were intentionally limited to comply with Japanese regulations, future applications could leverage satellite communications to dramatically extend operational range.

The Marines and NSWCC team used only three primary pieces of equipment to produce the modular hull: a computer numerical control router, a large-format polymer 3D printer and a spray foam and coating system. The materials were intentionally selected for their worldwide availability.

According to Stecko, the goal would be to modify this manufacturing process to make any platform that would be usable for the Marine Corps, the Navy or others requiring it.

“We do the design work on the back end and push those digital files to the end-user so they can manufacture the platform where it’s needed,” Stecko said.

The approach seeks to reduce one of the greatest logistical challenges facing expeditionary operations, that of transporting large, expensive systems across thousands of miles of ocean. Instead of shipping complete platforms into theater, engineers envision shipping compact manufacturing equipment and digital design files, allowing Marines to fabricate equipment using locally sourced materials.

The NSWCC team’s previous 5-meter prototype hull was manufactured in approximately 16 working hours using roughly $11,000 worth of materials – dramatically reducing both production cost and manufacturing timelines compared with traditional methods. The team believed that once fully scaled, and using a 12 personnel team, a 5-meter platform could be manufactured every four hours and a 7-meter platform every six hours, Stecko said.

An unmanned Foam Raiding Craft operates through remote control capabilities during Valiant Shield 26 at White Beach, Okinawa, Japan, June 29, 2026. US Marine Corps photo The foam raiding craft are designed to balance affordability with operational capability. The MASS concept focuses on rapidly producing systems capable of supporting logistics, reconnaissance and other operational missions without relying on traditional acquisition timelines.

Following fabrication, the craft receives a protective polyurea coating before being fitted with an outboard engine. The craft is able to be operated conventionally or integrated with an autonomy kit allowing operators to transition between manned and unmanned operations.

The demonstration during Valiant Shield was part of an overall activity known as Resilient Advanced Manufacturing For Contested Environments (RAMFORCE), an initiative hosted by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. The activity ran from June1-July1 and saw the marines work with representatives from NSWCC, the U.S. Army Development Command Armaments Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility, RGBSI Aerospace and Defense, nScrypt and Haas Automation to evaluate how advanced manufacturing technologies could enable expeditionary forces to repair, replace and produce critical equipment at the point of need.

The foam raiding craft demonstration also served as the culmination of another RAMFORCE experiment in which Marines tested whether polymer 3D printers could continue producing parts while being transported aboard tactical vehicles and watercraft, assessing multiple commercially available printers, printing materials and software platforms. The test was meant to determine which combinations could withstand the vibrations and environmental conditions associated with expeditionary operations.

During the final demonstration, one printer continued fabricating a component while being transported to White Beach before being transferred aboard the foam raiding craft, where the print continued while the vessel operated on the water.

In a news release on Wednesday, defense technology company Firestorm Labs, Inc. announced that its xCell containerized manufacturing platform embarked on amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD-2) produced more than 1,000 parts in a two-week period while en route to the Rim of the Pacific 2026 exercise in Hawaii. The demonstration was part of the Naval Postgraduate School CAMRE’s RIMPAC distributed advanced manufacturing network facilitated by the FLEETWERX partnerships, and showcased the ability to manufacture drones and mission-critical components at sea.

Operating in conditions that peaked at a sea state 5 with 12-foot waves, xCell printed three categories of output: mechanical test components to evaluate printer performance underway, Firestorm’s First Person View (FPV) Squall quadcopter and Unmanned Aerial System components, and military repair parts requested by the crew, according to the release.

For the Squall first person quadcopters, Firestorm Labs printed and built 12 drones aboard Essex using xCell, then flew them at RIMPAC. Firestorm trained soldiers, sailors and Marines – including Marines from the 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion (3rd LAR) – on additive manufacturing, assembling the Squalls and flight operations.

Over a three-day period at Makua Military Reservation in Oahu, Hawaii, Marines from 3rd LAR flew the Squalls as the “red cell” adversary during a counter-UAS (C-UAS) exercise, supporting experimentation for NPS’s CAMRE at RIMPAC.

Additive manufacturing also allowed Marines to replace a part for the U.S. Coast Guard on July 11 during the Combined Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore (CLJOLTS) 26 exercise in Pohang, South Korea. According to a Marine Corps news release, Marines with 3rd Maintenance Battalion, Combat Logistics Regiment 35, 3rd MLG equipped with expeditionary fabrication systems were tasked with providing a solution for a Coast Guard rigid-hull inflatable boat that required the replacement of a specific part that was not immediately available through standard supply channels.

U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. John Huerta, center, a metal worker with 3rd Maintenance Battalion, Combat Logistics Regiment 35, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, speaks to U.S. Coast Guard Cmdr. Kristopher Nolan, commanding officer of Port Security Unit 309, as part of a 3rd Maintenance Battalion 3D printing capabilities showcase following Combined Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore 26 in Pohang, South Korea, July 17, 2026. US Marine Corps photo Operating out of an Expeditionary Fabrication Facility, or X-FAB, the Marines 3D-printed the replacement part by reverse-engineering the original piece in their design systems. Following minor adjustments, the final printed part was installed and functioned effectively, allowing the watercraft to resume its role in the combined exercise, according to the news release.

“Advanced manufacturing is one answer to solve this problem set. In this case, we cut a potential two- to three-week shipping delay for a replacement part down to just a few hours. The replacement part itself cost about $12 to print, the same as the original, but we have the option to use a cheaper filament that would cut the cost by another $4 without sacrificing performance.” Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jonathan Salas, utilities officer for Regional Maintenance Operations Company North, 3rd Maintenance Battalion, said in the news release.

“The immediate effect that the 3D-printed part provided to the mission was expediting the continued use of the Coast Guard’s rigid-hull inflatable boats, valued at around $600,000 each,” Salas said, adding that this allowed the Coast Guard to operate quick-reaction-force and patrol missions, ensuring the security of the surrounding waters for CJLOTS.