88 Across military and civilian industries, the world of uncrewed systems is growing fast, with tenders and orders for intelligent vehicles being announced more rapidly than ever. OEMs, both small and large, together with their subsystem suppliers, are expanding their production capacities to meet the heightening plethora of tasks and responsibilities entrusted to mobile autonomous aerial, terrestrial and marine assets. Though much of the uncrewed space is marked by use of composite material hulls and structures, we have recently seen a growing number of manufacturers achieving immense success through reliance on the types of metallic structures used consistently throughout passenger aviation for many decades now. This is especially pronounced among the larger sorts of vehicles aimed at serious industrial operators, such as ACUA Ocean’s 25.7 t H-USVs (Issue 60, Feb/Mar 2025) and ACC Innovation’s 800 kg Thunder Wasp UAVs (Issue 59, Dec 2024/Jan 2025). With more of such vehicles being produced – highly bespoke and optimised for critical niches – the need is growing for orders of non-standard structural parts that cannot be purchased from stock metal suppliers. Hence, CNC machine shops are increasingly being frequented, both for the parts their metal milling machinery can provide, and for the specific capabilities of their machine operators and consultants who understand how best to achieve what the customer is looking for. A CNC machine tool maker or operator, experienced in the needs of vehicle engineers and manufacturers, will ask a great many practical questions (be they direct or hypothetical) when approached by an uncrewed systems customer (or engine manufacturer) to make a part. Those questions will include how to hold the billet before starting to mill it into the part’s shape, where to cut first, where to cut second, where the tightest tolerances will be and how many times the part might need to be repositioned. There is an abundance of CNC machining technologies and services available for fulfilling uncrewed vehicles’ structural and powertrain needs. Rory Jackson explores some of the key aspects thereof Cut a fine figure August/September 2025 | Uncrewed Systems Technology CNC machining companies are increasingly capable of advising vehicle OEMs on the cost-effectiveness, manufacturability and other qualities of their parts (Image courtesy of Syncro Design)
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