CRP USA at XPONENTIAL 2026: Windform® 3D Printing meets defense-grade standards

CRP USA will exhibit at XPONENTIAL 2026, the world's leading trade show for autonomous and uncrewed systems, held in Detroit from May 12 to 14. The event brings together the most influential players in defense, aerospace, robotics, advanced air mobility, infrastructure, and energy — sectors where performance requirements are not merely high: they are uncompromising.

At booth 16031, CRP USA will showcase a cross-industry portfolio of 3D printed functional solutions manufactured in the Windform® range of thermoplastic composites, spanning defense, aerospace, and motorsport, sectors where structural integrity, thermal resistance, and dimensional accuracy are equally non-negotiable.

Proven Performance Across the Most Demanding Environments

Windform GT — one of the glass fiber reinforced polyamide-based materials from the Windform range — has recently achieved a significant milestone: full MIL-STD-810H compliance on structural end-use components manufactured by CRP USA for a defense/UAV customer. This U.S. Department of Defense standard for environmental durability under extreme operating conditions sets a demanding bar. Clearing it adds a new benchmark to the Windform range's track record, confirming its readiness for defense-grade applications alongside the aerospace and motorsport work already in the field.

"This is not a prototype exercise — it is evidence that additive manufacturing with Windform can deliver production-ready solutions where reliability is a matter of mission success. Every application in our portfolio at XPONENTIAL reflects that same standard of performance."
— Chris Brewster, CEO, CRP USA

A Cross-Industry Portfolio: From Motorsport Origins to Aerospace and Beyond

To understand the depth of the Windform portfolio, it helps to know where it began. In the mid-1990s, Italy-based advanced manufacturing company CRP Technology developed Windform materials specifically to address the severe mechanical and thermal demands of motorsport — first in the wind tunnel, then on the track, where components are pushed to the edge of their physical limits at every race. That origin shaped everything: the materials were engineered for performance under pressure, not adapted to it after the
fact.

Motorsport remains a core application domain. Attendees will be able to see, manufactured in Windform XT 2.0, one of the carbon fiber reinforced material from the same range, a fully functional Formula SAE steering wheel and a race-ready intake manifold that has covered in excess of 12,000 miles in both racing and testing, running at approximately 18 lbs of boost pressure. Applications where thermal loads, mechanical stress, and dimensional accuracy under competitive conditions are absolute requirements.

From that same technology base, CRP USA has reached considerably further. The TuPOD, a CubeSat in its own right and a deployer for TubeSats, will also be on display in a trade show version produced specifically for the occasion. The TuPOD took part in the HTV-6 mission, becoming the first entirely 3D printed satellite deployed from the ISS; moreover, by bridging the CubeSat deployer standard with the cylindrical form factor of TubeSats — previously incompatible with the ISS's standard P-POD system — it enabled the first-ever deployment of TubeSats into low Earth orbit.

Alongside it, variants of the KySat-2 and PrintSat structures, launched on NASA's ELaNa IV and ELaNa-7 missions. Precision retaining rings and motor stators complete a portfolio that spans from the racetrack to low Earth orbit.

"Windform was born in motorsport, proven in space, and now qualified at defense-grade standards. That trajectory is not accidental, it reflects a consistent commitment to solving the hardest problems in manufacturing. At XPONENTIAL, we look forward to bringing that story to an audience that understands exactly what it means to operate where failure is not an option."
— Vu Mai, Senior Director of Sales, CRP USA

Wenn Sie Google als Suchmaschine nutzen, können Sie Drones als bevorzugte Quelle hinterlegen, damit unsere Inhalte häufiger für Sie erscheinen. Fügen Sie Drones als bevorzugte Quelle hinzu.

Im Drones PR-Portal erscheinen Nachrichten und Meldungen von Unternehmen aus der Drone-Economy. Für die Inhalte der Pressemitteilungen sind die jeweiligen Unternehmen verantwortlich.