Drone Delivery Canada Inks $1.2M Deal with Government for Condor Drone Testing

Drone Delivery Canada (DDC) has secured a $1.2 million contract to provide its heavy-lift Condor drone to Transport Canada, as part of the government's Innovative Solutions Canada initiative. The contract, which runs until December 2023, will see DDC and Transport Canada collaborating on operating, testing, and evaluating the drone's capabilities.

The Condor, DDC's largest drone under development, will be deployed through a partnership with sales agent Air Canada. Steve Magirias, CEO of DDC, expressed enthusiasm for the collaboration and the opportunity to demonstrate the full capabilities of the Condor. He also highlighted the potential for the drone platform to be offered to other interested Canadian government entities.

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

The contract encompasses three phases: short-range flights, long-range endurance flights, and extreme environmental testing. With a multi-package payload compartment designed to hold roughly 20 cubic feet of cargo, the Condor measures 22 feet long, 5 feet wide, and 7 feet tall. Its rotor diameter spans approximately 20 feet, enabling it to take off and land vertically.

DDC's proprietary FLYTE management system equips the Condor, a feature found in all of the company's freight delivery drones. Subject to necessary regulations, the turnkey solution is expected to be offered in Canada through a managed service Software as a Service (SaaS) business model and potentially as a licensed managed service worldwide.

The Condor's increased size and payload capacity, pending requisite regulatory approvals, is anticipated to unlock a myriad of new use cases. These may include applications in industries such as mining, oil and gas, inspection, and emergency preparedness.

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