Raphael Thys
Black Swan.Dronamics
- Bulgarian manufacturer Dronamics will soon debut a pilotless cargo aircraft the size of a delivery van, named Black Swan.
- The plane boasts 50% lower costs than competing aircraft, a 770-pound payload, and a 1550-mile range.
- The company will operate the aircraft as the world's first "cargo drone airline" starting in 2023.
A new cargo aircraft is getting ready to hit the market.
Dronamics
European manufacturing company Dronamics will soon debut the Black Swan — a pilotless drone certified to carry freight in the European Union starting in 2023.
Dronamics
The concept is the brainchild of Bulgarian brothers Konstantin and Svilen Rangelov. Speaking with Insider, the latter said the pair started looking into the market in 2013 when Amazon began dabbling in drone deliveries.
Svilen (left) and Konstantin (right) Rangelov.Dronamics
However, the brothers saw logistical difficulties in sending small drones, like Amazon's, to deliver directly to homes and believed there was a better way of getting personal packages to each customer.
An early version of Amazon Prime Air's drone.Amazon
In Bulgaria, Rangelov said cargo is flown into Sophia, offloaded onto a big truck, driven hundreds of miles, and then offloaded onto a smaller van that delivers the package to individual sites.
A city view of Bulgaria.Getty Images
The brothers saw the big truck as a costly step: "We said let's map the size of the vehicle to fit exactly what you can fit in a delivery van in the last mile,'" Rangelov said. "This way we get to cut a step from the process."
Dronamics
The resulting product — which is about half the capacity of a U-Haul moving van — can offer customers fast and low-cost freight transport, enabling same-day delivery with the help of some 3,000 airstrips across Europe.
The pictured aircraft is a 1/4 scaled prototype.Dronamics
Source: U-Haul
Many of the said airstrips are closer to customers than the main distribution centers, making them even more convenient for same-day deliveries, according to Rangelov.
Dronamics
Moreover, the design helps Dronamics differentiate itself from other cargo drone operators that typically fly lighter freight over shorter distances.
Walmart is expanding its drone delivery network.Walmart
The middle-mile step in the supply chain is the part that transports cargo from a departure port to a distribution center.
The range can connect cities like Austin and New York City or Dubai and New Delhi.
Black Swan will power a cargo airline operating via droneports (rendering pictured).
Dronamics' Black Swan prototype flying over Bulgaria.
Zero Petroleum will fuel Black Swan to allow Dronamics "to deliver a carbon neutral operation."
A commercial pilot manning the Black Swan drone.
The van where pilots man the Black Swan drone.
Black Swan.
Dronamics co-founder Svilen Rangelov.
Read the original article on