DDC, Canadian government sign contract for Condor drone
DDC will provide Transport Canada with Condor drone and will collaborate with them to operate, test, and evaluate the drone's capabilities until December 2023, according to the contract terms.
Drone Delivery Canada has signed a contract with the Canadian government to operate and evaluate DDC's proprietary drone delivery platform with Transport Canada using DDC's heavy-lift Condor remote-piloted aircraft, the largest drone currently being developed by DDC, with the assistance of its sales agent Air Canada.
The Contract has a maximum value of about $1.2 million under the Canadian government's Innovative Solutions Canada initiative. DDC will provide Transport Canada with Condor drone and will collaborate with them to operate, test, and evaluate the drone's capabilities until December 2023, according to the contract terms.
“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 consists of 3 phases short range flights, long range endurance flights and extreme environmental testing.
The Condor's multi-package payload compartment is designed to hold roughly 20 cubic feet of cargo. The Condor measures 22 feet long, 5 feet wide and 7 feet tall. It has a rotor diameter of around 20 feet and can take off and land vertically. The Condor is equipped with the Company's proprietary FLYTE management system, which is utilized in all of the Company's freight delivery drones. Subject to appropriate regulations, the turnkey solution is expected to be offered in Canada as a managed service SaaS business model and potentially as a licensed managed service globally.
The increased size and payload capacity of the Condor, subject to all necessary regulatory permissions, is projected to open up a considerable number of new possible use case options, including in mining, oil and gas, inspection, and emergency preparedness.