MightyFly awarded the Department of the Air Force SBIR Phase II contract and received investment from Draper Associates
Applications for small drone delivery of food and retail goods are developing all over the world – but the chance for cargo drones, autonomous eVTOL aircraft with larger payload capability, could also be even greater. Today, MightyFly announced recent investment and an AFWERX SBIR Phase II contract to develop the corporate’s Autonomous Load Mastering System (ALMS.) The ALMS will allow MightyFly’s autonomous hybrid eVTOL “to load, unload and deliver cargo autonomously and to deal with probably the most pressing expedited logistics challenges.”
The applications are almost limitless, with the potential to alleviate traffic and emissions while delivering significant efficiencies and value savings to any business that requires point-to-point, same-day or expedited delivery services. Within the context of military use, an autonomous system for delivering supplies might be lifesaving. “The MightyFly solution is good for logistics, supply chain, manufacturing, healthcare, pharmaceutical, retail, automotive and oil and gas industries, for National and State parks, humanitarian and disaster relief organizations, and for defense and nondefense governmental agencies,” says the corporate announcement.
Air Force SBIR grants are designed to support progressive technologies and convey recent solutions to viability sooner. The support not only provides financial resources to small businesses, it identifies market needs and highlights solutions that address specific problems the Air Force is trying to resolve.
“The MightyFly team is working to revolutionize expedited logistics via large, autonomous, hybrid eVTOL cargo aircraft. To be chosen by AFWERX for this SBIR Phase II contract signifies a vote of confidence in our mission and technical expertise. We’re honored to partner with the U.S. Air Force and to leverage our know-how to develop a system that directly addresses agile and expedited logistics needs and supply a significant feature that is required for the successful integration of autonomous aircraft inside logistics,” said Manal Habib, CEO of MightyFly.
MightyFly received additional funding from Draper Associates in September. That investment will help MightyFly advance the event of its autonomous cargo aircraft, boosting the corporate’s go-to-market efforts.
“We backed MightyFly due to their incredible team. In case you absolutely need something delivered immediately, MightyFly can deliver it. I think MightyFly will save many lives, deliver essential contracts, fix many vehicles and machines, and solve many problems we haven’t even considered yet. For brief haul, medium loads, this company has your solution,” said Tim Draper, Founding Partner of Draper Associates.
MightyFly is scheduled to finish the manufacturing of its third-generation MF100 aircraft later this yr, is scheduled to publicly debut its autonomous cargo aircraft performing delivery flight demonstrations with 100 kilos of payload in Michigan in 2024, and is working with partners within the planning of Proof of Concept (POC) programs in late 2024 and throughout 2025.
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