Drone Delivery Canada (DDC) has announced that it will begin commercial operations testing of its long-range heavy-lift Condor cargo delivery unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). This phase of testing, which will involve Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) flights, will take place at the Foremost UAS Test Range in Alberta under a Special Flight Operations Certificate (SFOC).
The Condor has a lifting capability of 180kgs (400lbs) of payload, a travel range of 200km and an operating speed of 120kph. The multi-package payload compartment is designed to carry approximately 20 cubic feet of cargo. Measuring 22 feet long, 5 feet wide and 7 feet tall, and with a rotor diameter of approximately 20 feet, it is capable of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL). The Condor is equipped with DDC’s proprietary FLYTE management system, which is in service across all of DDC’s cargo delivery drones.
Michael Zahra, President and CEO of DDC, commented: “Market response to the Condor has been overwhelmingly strong. The capabilities of the Condor simply address many social (medical, pharmaceutical, remote communities, humanitarian aid, etc) and economic (mining, oil & gas, courier, etc) use-cases being requested by DDC’s customers. These requests are happening globally.”
“Based on direct market feedback, this will be a game-changer for the Company, our customers and the industry overall. Additionally, DDC’s patented FLYTE system is airframe agnostic, meaning it can easily be integrated onto future DDC or 3rd party drones and rotary or fixed-wing manned aircraft to allow the Company to offer a strong technology roadmap for even heavier-lift and longer-range drones in the future.”
DDC is currently in discussions with various potential customers, who have all expressed strong interest in the Condor once commercial testing at the Foremost UAS Test Range has been finalized.
