Dynamic Aerospace poised to gain foothold in multiple markets
by DRONELIFE Features Editor Jim Magill
With a new product line that features three uniquely designed UAVs and recent agreements to expand into international markets, U.S. drone manufacturer Dynamic Aerospace Systems is poised to expand its reach into both defense and commercial markets, the company’s leader said in an interview with DroneLife.
“We’re unique in the business landscape we’re in. We are a drone manufacturer solely built in the United States,” Kent Wilson, CEO of Ann Arbor, Michigan-based Dynamic Aerospace said.
“With the offerings of drones that we have — meaning the three different types of drones — it’s really hard to find that level of integration and offering from one company where the drones work so well together,” Wilson said. “It’s a unique opportunity, not just for the government, but even for commercial users as well.”
In August, the company announced the launch of its “Fortis Class” of UAVs, which features three distinct autonomous aerial systems: the Overwatch, based on the company’s G-1 MKIII hybrid vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) platform; the Sentinel, based on the US-1 MKII multi-copter platform, and the Breacher, based on the Mitigator CQB multi-copter platform. The class of UAVs is designed and engineered for military, government and security forces operations.
The G-1 hybrid, takes off vertically using battery power and then flies horizontally powered by a gas engine.
“That is an incredibly energy-dense way to obtain flight and get into very difficult locations because of the vertical lift. You don’t need a landing strip,” Wilson said.
The vehicle, which was originally designed to deliver medical goods, has a 13-foot wingspan and a payload capacity of 20 pounds. It has a flight endurance of eight to 11 hours, depending on the use case. “It’s perfect for surveillance,” he said.
Wilson said the US-1 “is a really interesting aircraft.” Designed by a former Tesla battery engineer, the UAV mimics Tesla’s theory of battery placement, with the batteries built into the quadcopter’s airframe. “It would be a hard thing to get greater energy density without having the battery array make up the airframe.”
The aircraft’s patented design gives it the ability to stay aloft for an hour and a half, which allows it to replace helicopters in some use cases.
Dynamic Aerospace’s third major product, the Mitigator is a tactical drone capable of operating in closed environments and indoor spaces. Compared with tactical drones marketed by competitors, the Mitigator’s has a more rugged design that allows it to take a great deal of punishment and keep on flying, Wilson said.
“If you’re in an indoor environment where you may be bumping into things, their drones are not going to be as sturdy. Our drone is very robust. We actually have video of it flying at 10-, 20-miles-an-hour into a wall,” and after the crash being able to right itself and take off again, he said.
The drone’s rugged design makes it the ideal vehicle for use in tactical and law enforcement situations, such as a raid on a meth lab, where the criminals inside might attempt to knock the vehicle down with a baseball bat, Wilson said.
“The other unique thing we’ve done, and I believe we’re the first company to do this, is we’ve been able to incorporate flash bangs into that drone,” he said. “We’re getting very positive feedback from law enforcement teams on that capability.”
In addition to the individual capabilities of the three Fortis Class drones, the vehicle systems can be combined to operate in an interactive package, another feature that many of Dynamic Aerospace’s competitors don’t offer, he said.
“As we’re looking at the landscape in 2026 — three years out, five years out, 10 years out — the genesis of our foundational aircraft really provide a very strong value opportunity, especially for our shareholders and consumers.”
Stepping out into international markets
In recent months, Dynamic Aerospace has sought to extend its reach into international UAV delivery markets, signing memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with United Arab Emirates-based Noon Fulfillment, “the Amazon of the Middle East,” and Drops Smart Hubs, a Greece-based developer of autonomous aerial infrastructure.
Wilson said his company has gone through the first two phases of compliance with the UAE’s Civil Aviation Authority to allow Noon Fulfillment to use the G-1 drone in its delivery service.
“We have plans to go back in Q1 of next year to demonstrate the US-1, which is also designed to carry goods,” he said. “We look at the Noon Fulfillment agreement as a strong opportunity for future sales as we get into 2026 and beyond.”
The partnership with Noon is expected to help Dynamic Aerospace to broaden its customer base beyond the defense sector and into more consumer-oriented markets.
While its agreement with Drops is still in its infancy, Wilson said he expected the MOU will lead to greater opportunities for his company to expand into European markets.
“Drops has created the ecosystem in Greece where they have landing zones,” he said. “If you want to create an area where drones can fly, you’ve got to create corridors and paths and infrastructure where they can land and take off.”
He said he hopes that Drops will use Dynamic Aerospace’s drones as it builds out its aerial infrastructure system, and that this relationship will prove to be a gateway into other markets in the EU.
Back in the U.S., the company’s main focus largely remains on the defense market. Last month, Dynamic Aerospace demonstrated the capabilities of its military-grade drone platforms to the Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) at Strother Field, an airport in Kansas.
The demonstration gave AFGSC the opportunity to explore the potential to acquire the versatile drones for deployment across multiple installations. The U.S. government already had acquired some US-1 aircraft through an existing relationship with a prior iteration of the company, Wilson said.
“We got a call from them in July asking to re-evaluate the drones that they were already using, but also to expand upon that and look at the drones that we also have in addition to the US-1,” he said.
Within the next year and a half, Dynamic Aerospace hopes to expand its manufacturing capacity either at its current home base in Ann Arbor or in another American location. He said the company’s future focus likely will be split evenly between the defense and consumer markets.
“The military sector is probably the quickest path to expanding production, just because we already have a relationship built there,” Wilson said. “But the consumer side is also equally as important to us. And so, when you look at us, we put our money where our mouth is.”
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Jim Magill is a Houston-based writer with almost a quarter-century of experience covering technical and economic developments in the oil and gas industry. After retiring in December 2019 as a senior editor with S&P Global Platts, Jim began writing about emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, robots and drones, and the ways in which they’re contributing to our society. In addition to DroneLife, Jim is a contributor to Forbes.com and his work has appeared in the Houston Chronicle, U.S. News & World Report, and Unmanned Systems, a publication of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International.
Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, a professional drone services marketplace, and a fascinated observer of the emerging drone industry and the regulatory environment for drones. Miriam has penned over 3,000 articles focused on the commercial drone space and is an international speaker and recognized figure in the industry. Miriam has a degree from the University of Chicago and over 20 years of experience in high tech sales and marketing for new technologies.
For drone industry consulting or writing, Email Miriam.
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