Drone manufacturer Modovolo has selected Lyten as the primary filament supplier for its industrial 3D printing platform, a move the companies say will strengthen U.S.-based manufacturing for aerospace, defense, and industrial applications.At the center of the partnership is Modovolo’s BFP (Build.Fly.
Print.) platform, a modular, containerized 3D printing system designed to produce large aerospace, automotive, and industrial parts close to where they are needed.The company says the platform is built entirely around U.S.-sourced materials and equipment, reducing reliance on overseas supply chains.Unlike many industrial 3D printers that are fixed inside factories, Modovolo’s BFP system was designed to be modular and transportable.
The company says the containerized platform can be deployed close to where parts are needed, allowing aerospace-grade components to be manufactured in the field or at distributed production sites.According to Modovolo, the company originally developed the printer to make parts for its own drones after it could not find an industrial system that met its performance and cost requirements.Rather than relying on existing industrial printers, the company designed its own system around the needs of aerospace manufacturing.
The result was a modular platform that can be transported and deployed close to where components are needed, instead of relying on centralized production facilities.The move comes as drone production continues to grow.According to an Additive Manufacturing Research (AM Research) report presented at the recent UAS Additive Strategies conference, manufacturers are expected to produce roughly 17 million drones this year, representing nearly 900 million individual parts.
Over the next decade, annual production could more than double, creating demand for manufacturing systems that can build lightweight, high-performance components quickly and close to where they are needed.“We built BFP out of necessity,” described Justin Call, Modovolo CEO and co-founder.“We could not find a 3D printer fast enough and affordable enough to produce aerospace-grade components at scale for our drones.” Modovolo 3D Printer, US-made, modular 3D printing platform designed to make high-performance parts in aerospace, automotive, and defense applications using Lyten’s 3D Graphene enhanced filaments, creating a lighter, stronger, and faster print.
Image courtesy of Lyten.The platform will now use Lyten’s PA1205 filament, a nylon-based material enhanced with the company’s proprietary 3D Graphene technology.Lyten says the material is designed to produce lighter, stronger parts while improving print speed and reducing warping.
The company also claims PA1205 outperforms comparable carbon fiber-reinforced filaments in tensile strength and impact resistance, although those figures have not been independently verified.According to Lyten, the filament is intended for applications where weight, strength, and durability are critical.The company says the material can be used to produce structural parts for aerospace, motorsports, and other industrial applications while maintaining dimensional accuracy and minimizing warping during printing.
The partnership builds on work that began last year.Modovolo has been using Lyten’s materials since 2025 to manufacture parts for its Lift Quadcopter-X, an ultra-lightweight drone designed to carry different payloads for commercial, public safety, and defense missions.The latest agreement expands that relationship from drone production to Modovolo’s broader manufacturing platform.
For Lyten, the agreement expands the use of its graphene-enhanced materials beyond batteries and advanced composites into distributed additive manufacturing.“Our goal is to prove better-performing, better-priced products can be both sourced and manufactured locally,” explained Dan Cook, Lyten CEO and co-founder.“We use Lyten’s proprietary 3D Graphene to enable aerospace, motorsports, and industrial customers to rethink how they design, manufacture, and supply products around the world.” The companies plan to demonstrate the system later this year at the Civil-Military Innovation Institute (CMI2), a defense technology event, and Northern Strike, a large U.S.
military training exercise, as well as other aerospace and motorsports events.Subscribe to Our Email Newsletter Stay up-to-date on all the latest news from the 3D printing industry and receive information and offers from third party vendors.Print Services Upload your 3D Models and get them printed quickly and efficiently.
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