Drone Delivery Canada secures first contract for heavy-lift drone

Drone Delivery Canada (DDC) has been awarded the first contract for its heavy-lift Condor remote piloted drone.

The drone company said that, with the assistance of its sales agent Air Canada, it had signed a contract with the Canadian government to work with Transport Canada in operating and evaluating its proprietary drone delivery platform using its heavy-lift Condor remote piloted aircraft, the largest drone it is currently developing.

The contract, with a value up to approximately C$1.2m is with the Canadian government’s Innovative Solutions Canada programme.

Under the terms of the contract, DDC will provide Transport Canada with a Condor drone, and collaborate with Transport Canada in operating, testing and evaluating the capabilities of the Condor drone solution until December 2023.

The contract consists of three phases. These are short-range flights, long-range endurance flights, and extreme environmental testing.

The multi-package payload compartment of the Condor is designed to carry approximately 20 cubic feet of cargo. The Condor measures 22 feet long, 5 feet wide and 7 feet tall. It has a rotor diameter of approximately 20 feet and is capable of vertical takeoff and landing.

The Condor is equipped with DDC’s proprietary FLYTE management system which is the same platform used in all the company’s cargo delivery drones.

The turnkey solution is expected to be marketed in a managed service SaaS business model in Canada and potentially as a licensed managed service internationally, subject to applicable regulation.

Subject to all required regulatory approvals, the increased size and payload capacity of the Condor is expected to unlock a significant number of new potential use case opportunities, including in sectors such as mining, oil and gas, inspection, and emergency preparedness.

“We are extremely excited to provide Transport Canada with our Condor drone and to be involved in the Innovation Solutions Canada program,” said Steve Magirias, chief executive of DDC.

“We look forward to working with Transport Canada to display the full capabilities of the Condor and to potentially offer the Condor platform to all interested government of Canada parties.

“This contract is made possible through the talent and effort of the DDC team which has worked tirelessly to get our Condor drone developed to achieve this milestone along with potential future milestones.”