Continuous Composites Wins Navy Contract to 3D Print Smarter UAVs

Continuous Composites has been awarded a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research contract with the U.S. Navy to advance its Continuous Fiber 3D Printing technology for unmanned aerial vehicles. The Idaho-based company is already a familiar name in defense additive manufacturing. It has landed eight prior SBIR awards across the Air Force, Navy, and NASA, pulling in more than $6.4 million in total government funding. This latest round pushes that work in a more functional direction.

What the Navy Actually Wants

The goal is to print load-bearing composite parts that carry electrical power, sensor wiring, and other embedded functionality inside the structure itself. Reducing wire harness weight and shortening routing paths matters in UAV design, where every gram counts. Continuous Composites already proved it can deposit copper traces and fiber optics inside composite laminates without hurting mechanical strength. The new contract goes further: higher-capacity conductive pathways, electrical isolation between layers, and production-ready geometry that survives real operational loads.

From Patent Fights to Production Parts

Continuous Composites spent recent years defending its CF3D patents, including a high-profile settlement with Markforged. That litigation funding helped build the legal wall around its robotic additive manufacturing process. Now the company is pivoting toward commercialization, and the Navy contract is a credible on-ramp. Phase II SBIRs typically lead to prototype hardware and, if the results hold, follow-on procurement.

Why This Matters for Drone Design

If Continuous Composites can reliably print electrically functional composite structures, drone airframes could become simpler to assemble and lighter in flight. Components that now need separate housings, connectors, and wire bundles could be printed in one piece. CEO Steve Starner described it as moving from printing structure alone to printing functionality directly into the structure. The approach also points toward a modular UAV concept: swappable payload sections mated to a common printed airframe.

The contract signals that defense buyers are getting serious about multifunctional additive manufacturing. It is no longer enough to simply print a bracket that is lighter than a machined one. The next generation of military drones will likely rely on structures that do more than hold shape.