Swedish aerospace and defense company Saab in collaboration with AI-driven 3D manufacturing solutions provider Divergent Technologies, has developed what they labeled the world’s first software-defined aircraft fuselage, a milestone announced in 2025, with its first flight scheduled for 2026. The initiative aims to accelerate aircraft design iteration, enable flexible manufacturing, and support the rapid integration of complex systems.
Built at Saab’s facilities using advanced AM and robotic assembly, the fuselage reflects a broader effort to provide military operators with faster, more adaptable aircraft while reducing production constraints and costs.
Advancing Aircraft Design Through Digital Twins
Saab has long prioritized adaptability and speed in military aviation, guided by the OODA-loop framework—Observe, Orient, Decide, Act—developed in the 1970s. The Gripen E fighter exemplifies this approach, using model-based engineering (MBE) to unify aeronautical, vehicle systems, and mechanical design disciplines through a shared digital twin. This replaces traditional 2D drawings with 3D models, enabling more optimized designs and early cross-functional simulations.
The aircraft features a world-unique avionics system with separated flight-safety and mission-critical software on a hardware-independent platform, reducing upgrade time and costs. The company also stated that Gripen E was the first in-production fighter to operate with an AI agent on standard avionics computers, highlighting how rapid software integration and adaptability can improve operational agility and combat effectiveness.
Software-Defined Hardware Manufacturing
Building on Gripen E’s flexible software, Saab’s innovation unit, The Rainforest, explored applying software-defined principles to hardware.
“We are asking ourselves the question – In Gripen E customers get a platform where they can code mission-critical applications in the morning and fly them in the afternoon. How can we give them the same level of software flexibility, but for actual hardware? We call this Software-Defined Hardware Manufacturing” said Axel Bååthe, Head of The Rainforest.
Traditional manufacturing is slowed by physical tooling, jigs, and molds. Saab’s approach connects digital design with production, enabling rapid iteration and reconfiguration of the manufacturing system. “We envision that Saab’s future production factory is our most important product. We want to be able to give our customers freedom. Freedom to not feel locked into a specific design, neither in hardware nor software,” said Bååthe.
Collaboration with Divergent Technologies
Through a partnership with Divergent Technologies, Saab produced a software-defined fuselage over 5 meters long, composed of 26 additively manufactured parts. The structure was created without dedicated tooling, using laser powder fusion additive manufacturing combined with robotic assembly.
“Many traditional truths in aircraft manufacturing were possible to challenge by the joint Saab & Divergent design team. With additive manufacturing load-bearing structures do not have to follow straight lines and right angles as ribs and stringers, but can rather, organically, follow the optimal load-paths. It is impossible to, as a human, draw these parts, instead they must be generated by optimization and AI-algorithms,” said Bååthe.
The new approach reduces fuselage parts by at least a factor of 100, replacing riveted components with interwoven organic structures. It also allows faster assembly, weight optimization, and functional integration of wiring, thermal management, and hydraulic systems directly within the structure.
“The fuselage has successfully passed its structural proof-loading and is scheduled to fly in 2026. The joint team has done an excellent job working to prepare for first flight and in paving the way forward as we advance towards our ambition of ‘CAD in the Morning, Fly in the Afternoon,” said Bååthe.
AI and 3D Printing Boost Aerospace Innovation
The Saab-Divergent Technologies collaboration reflects a broader industry shift toward AI-enabled automation and advanced AM—momentum that is also visible in international aerospace programs.
In Europe, GKN Aerospace has integrated Interspectral’s AM Explorer software at its Engine Systems Centre of Excellence in Trollhättan, Sweden, bringing real-time monitoring and AI-driven quality assurance into its metal 3D printing operations. The system captures live build data, detects anomalies through trained AI models, and produces consolidated defect reports, helping the company reduce material waste and accelerate the delivery of high-quality aero-engine components.
Similarly, the UK Government is backing a new £14.1 million initiative led by Honeywell to advance the production of certified aerospace parts using AM. Known as Project STRATA, the program aims to strengthen the UK’s aerospace supply chain and lower CO₂ emissions by developing next-generation AM processes. Honeywell’s Yeovil facility will lead the effort alongside partners including 3T Additive Manufacturing, BeyondMath, Qdot Technology, and the Oxford Thermofluids Institute.
The 3D Printing Industry Awards are back. Make your nominations now.
Do you operate a 3D printing start-up? Reach readers, potential investors, and customers with the 3D Printing Industry Start-up of Year competition.
To stay up to date with the latest 3D printing news, don’t forget to subscribe to the 3D Printing Industry newsletter or follow us on Linkedin.
Featured image shows Software-defined aircraft fuselage. Photo via SAAB.
