Whatever drone part you're trying to build, from a fixed-wing fuselage section to a weather-sealed connector body, there's a Stratasys printer built for it. Compare all 9 systems by build volume, material, and cost per part, then start with the one that actually matches what you're printing.
Drone programs use Stratasys 3D printing across five recurring production needs, from structural airframe parts to the tooling that builds them.
Every Stratasys drone production workflow follows the same production-grade path, regardless of which printer or material fits the part.
Before any file exists, define what the part actually has to survive in flight: load path, vibration from motors and propellers, thermal exposure near batteries or engines, and how tight the tolerance needs to be. This is also where you settle how many you need: a one-off prototype and a 500-unit production run point to different printers and different materials before the design work even starts.
Decide how much proof this part needs to earn before the design is locked. A bracket for a test rig might just need a material data sheet; a flight-critical structural part or anything under NDAA/ITAR scope needs documented process controls and defined acceptance criteria you can point to later. Setting this early avoids re-qualifying the part after it's already been printed.
Convert the part into a design that actually prints well: adjust wall thickness and geometry for the process, then set orientation, support strategy, and nesting in build-prep software like GrabCAD Print. The choices made here, which way the part sits on the plate, where supports touch it, directly decide its strength, surface finish, and how much post-processing it needs later.
Print the part on the system matched to its size, function, and tolerance, with the material bay or spool loaded for that specific job. Larger industrial systems are built to run this stage unattended for hours or days at a time, so production keeps moving without someone watching the build.
Remove supports, finish surfaces to the spec the part needs, anything from a light sand to full vapor smoothing, and install any hardware inserts before the part goes anywhere near assembly. How much work happens here depends entirely on the part: a tooling fixture might need almost none, a customer-facing housing needs a lot more.
Check fit, function, and dimensional consistency, scaled to how critical the part is: a jig gets a quick once-over, a flight structural part gets full dimensional and functional verification against the acceptance criteria set back at the qualification stage. Only once it clears that bar does it get released to assembly.
Install the part into the airframe, and instead of warehousing a shelf of physical spares, keep the qualified digital file on record so a replacement can be printed on demand. That's the real sustainment advantage over traditional manufacturing: the inventory is a file, not a stack of parts sitting in a warehouse losing value.
Moving production in-house changes the math fast — in hours saved, cost per part, and how many parts you need at all.
Less production time per drone airframe, after consolidating 6 desktop builds into 1 industrial build (136 → 66 hours)
Drones produced per H350® printer, at an estimated $17 per drone
General Atomics group 4/5 production UAV parts established as programs of record
Estimated annual labor cost savings when switching from FFF to U.S.-made Stratasys FDM technology
Most 3D printers used for drone parts assume a Wi-Fi connection and a cloud dashboard. Defense and government drone programs usually can't allow that. The F900® runs ProtectAM and meets US DoD STIG requirements, so it operates on a closed network without giving up any production capability.
The printer's price tag isn't the number that decides this. Cost per part is. An H350® running Group 1-2 SUAS parts averages $15 to $20 a drone at roughly 24 drones a day — and that gap only widens as your volume grows: a 30,000-unit-a-year program needs around 300 industrial systems where a desktop print farm would need over 6,600. Talk to us about the printer and material combination that fits your part count.
The best 3D printer for drones depends on the part. Compare all 14 systems by technology, build volume, and materials.
| Printer | Technology | Build Volume | Key Materials | Best for (Drone) | Route |
|
F870™ |
FDM | 1,000 x 610 x 610 mm (39.4 x 24 x 24 in.) |
FDM® Nylon 12CF, ASA, ABS-M30, FDM® ABS Draft | Large one piece fixed wing airframe sections and large drone tooling in carbon fiber nylon. | View → |
|
F3300® |
FDM | 600 x 600 x 800 mm (23.6 x 23.6 x 31.5 in.) |
ASA, PC, FDM® Nylon 12CF, ULTEM™ 9085 resin | High volume drone part production at the lowest cost per part. | View → |
|
F900® |
FDM | 914 x 610 x 914 mm (36 x 24 x 36 in.) |
ULTEM™ 9085/1010 resin, Antero™ 800NA PEKK, FDM® Nylon 12CF/12, ASA, PC, PPSF | Flight qualified structural parts in ULTEM™ 9085 and secure defense drone programmes. | View → |
|
Fortus® 450mc |
FDM | 406 x 355 x 406 mm (16 x 14 x 16 in.) |
ULTEM™ 9085/1010, Antero™ 800NA, FDM® Nylon 12CF/12, ST-130, PC, PC-ISO, ABS variants | Engineering grade drone parts across the widest material range in a single system. | View → |
|
F370®CR |
FDM | 355 x 254 x 355 mm (14 x 10 x 14 in.) |
ABS-CF10, FDM® Nylon-CF10, ABS-M30, ASA, FDM® TPU 92A, ABS-ESD7, PC-ABS, Diran™ 410MF07 | Carbon fiber drone arms, brackets and workholding without machining. | View → |
|
Neo®800+ |
SLA | 800 x 800 x 600 mm (31.50 x 31.50 x 23.62 in.) |
Open 355nm resin — Somos® PerFORM/Taurus/WaterShed XC 11122/Element | Large, smooth aerodynamic surfaces and wind tunnel drone models. | View → |
|
Neo®450s |
SLA | 450 x 450 x 400 mm (17.72 x 17.72 x 15.75 in.) |
Open 355nm resin — Somos® PerFORM/WaterShed XC 11122/Element | High definition drone payload, optics and sensor housings. | View → |
|
H350® |
SAF | 315 x 208 x 293 mm (12.40 x 8.18 x 11.53 in) |
SAF® PA11, SAF® PA12, SAF® PA12 GB | Production volumes of rugged nylon drone enclosures, brackets and ducting. | View → |
|
Origin® Two |
P3 DLP | 192 x 108 x 370 mm | High performance P3™ DLP resins — rigid, high temperature, elastomeric | Precision drone optics, connectors and elastomeric seals. | View → |
Tell us about the part you're trying to build. A Stratasys applications engineer will follow up with the printer, material, and timeline that actually fits it.
Used by drone and UxS manufacturers moving production in-house, from first prototype to programs of record.
9085, 1010 and ULTEM™ trademarks are used under license from SABIC, its affiliate or subsidiary
