AI-driven 3D manufacturing solutions providerDivergent Technologiesand US defense manufacturing companyMach Industrieshave partnered to create Venom, a flight-demonstration prototype aircraft.
The aircraft “moved from concept to flight-ready prototype in 71 days,” according to Alex Lovett, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of War for Mission Capabilities in the Office of the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering (OUSW(R&E)).
By integrating digital design, additive manufacturing, and modular avionics, the project accelerates development, cuts costs and enables scalable, high-performance production, redefining how autonomous defense systems are designed, manufactured, and deployed.
Lovett added, “This isn’t just an impressive metric—it’s a direct enabler of our strategy to achieve affordable mass and support the SECWAR’s ‘Drone Dominance’ vision. ODASW(P&E) is committed to sponsoring collaborations like this that accelerate rapid acquisition and deliver urgent, low-cost munitions to the warfighter.”
Accelerating Design and Manufacturing
Mach Industries provided the baseline requirements and modular architecture, leveraging avionics and simulation from existing flight-proven systems to speed development. Divergent executed the digital design and 3D printing of the Venom airframe, including wings, fuselage, skins, and control surfaces, producing monolithic assemblies instead of traditional multi-part constructions.
Divergent’s Adaptive Production System (DAPS) reduces hundreds of individual components into single additively manufactured structures. This approach improves performance, lowers overall part count, and accelerates production timelines.
“Over the last 18 months Mach has taken four products from concept to flight test through rapid iteration, and Divergent’s adaptive tech stack has been instrumental in accelerating that iteration,” said Ethan Thornton, Founder and CEO of Mach.
On scaling, Lukas Czinger, Co-Founder and CEO of Divergent, said, “Most importantly, Divergent will drive the rapid scale-up of this system, producing thousands of airframes annually. Partnering with Mach has been an immediate win and reflects two mission-aligned, innovative companies executing at maximum pace.”
Additive Manufacturing Compresses Defense Development Cycles
Source: 3D Printing Industry
