Firestorm Labs

Firestorm Labs is a San Diego defense company building expeditionary manufacturing systems that let the US military produce unmanned aircraft close to the front line. Its xCell platform packages a complete drone microfactory into two standard shipping containers, sized to travel by trailer, by C-17 or C-130 airlift, or sling-loaded under a CH-47. The factory prints, assembles, and tests Tempest-family UAS in the field, with airframes coming off the line in roughly nine hours and full aircraft ready in about 36. The Tempest design carries a 400-mile range, six-hour endurance, and a ten-pound payload, and can be reconfigured for ISR, electronic warfare, or strike missions. The company received a $30 million APFIT award to scale Tempest production and xCell deployment in the Indo-Pacific, and closed an $82 million round in 2026 to expand its forward manufacturing footprint. Firestorm was founded in 2022.