North Carolina Manufacturing
Forge and Flight Labs manufactures all platforms at our Fayetteville, North Carolina facility. In-house production from electronics fabrication through final airframe assembly gives us direct control over every variable that affects NDAA compliance, quality, and lead time.
Location: Fayetteville, NC 28304 | CAGE Code: 18VF2 | UEI: SUVKLZLPBJC1
What We Build In-House
Airframes: Carbon fiber, EPO, and composite structures fabricated and assembled at our facility. No foreign airframe sourcing.
Avionics and Electronics: Flight controllers, power distribution systems, battery management, and communication modules produced by our Electronics Manufacturing Division using 100% domestic components. This is the capability that separates us from platform assemblers who source electronics externally.
Payload Integration: Custom payload mounts, bay configurations, and interface wiring fabricated to customer specification. Payload bay dimensions and interface specifications are available on each platform product page.
Software and Firmware: ArduPilot-based flight control firmware configured and validated at our facility. NVIDIA Jetson/Orin/Thor AGX AI systems integrated and tested on-platform before shipment.
Quality and Traceability
Every unit shipped includes a complete Bill of Materials with component-level country of origin documentation. This is not a summary document — it is a traceable record of every electronic component installed, with supplier information, that satisfies DoD acquisition file requirements under NDAA Section 848.
Pre-delivery acceptance testing is conducted at our facility or at our Flight Test Division’s dedicated range. Customer acceptance testing can be arranged at either location.
Lead Times
Standard lead times are 8–12 weeks from deposit for Group 2 platforms (Longbow-8, Aether-10) and 10–14 weeks for Group 3 platforms (Vanguard-14, Titan-20). Custom configurations or large-quantity orders — contact us to discuss production scheduling.
Additive Manufacturing Capability
We leverage FDM and SLA 3D printing with topology-optimized structural designs — enabling rapid prototyping and custom configurations impossible with traditional aerospace tooling. Development cycles that take competitors 18–36 months, we accomplish in 3–6 months.
This capability directly supports customer-requested modifications: custom payload bays, non-standard antenna placements, mission-specific structural reinforcements, and iterative sensor integration work.