A developer of autonomous heavy-cargo drones for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) said its latest model can now deliver payloads in three ways: precision airdrop from a hover, precision airdrop in forward flight, and ground delivery, each executed without personnel or ground infrastructure at the receiving site.
Byron, California-based Elroy Air announced those new unattended delivery modes for its Chaparral drone, developed under contract with the U.S. Army. The private firm is planning to go public during the fourth quarter of 2026.
Its drone is a small airplane with 30-foot wingspan, mounted with eight vertical lift rotors and four forward-flight rotors. That design allows it to take off like a helicopter and achieve 450-mile range and 500-pound payload capacity from its hybrid-electric powertrain. It carries a cargo pod that is about six feet long and two feet wide, holding 19 cubic feet of space.
In a July 15 demonstration, a Chaparral drone completed two payload releases in a single flight: a 68-pound payload drop from a close-in hover and a 70-pound payload release from 65 feet in forward flight. Both deliveries were software-commanded from pre-programmed coordinates, with no operator input during execution, and with no personnel at the delivery point.
In a separate exercise, Elroy Air also demonstrated ground delivery without attending personnel, in which the aircraft released its payload after landing, the firm said. The Chaparral carries its loads in swappable cargo pods that allow a single aircraft to support different missions without airframe reconfiguration.
According to Elroy Air, the new capabilities support missions where landing is not possible or would reveal a position, including contested environments, disaster response, maritime operations, and austere terrain. In addition to defense applications, the company said its technology is intended for rapid response and commercial logistics.
These new delivery modes will be available on production Chaparral aircraft, which will be manufactured by Kratos Defense & Security Solutions at its expanding Sacramento, California, production facility.
“Contested logistics is one of the hardest problems the joint force faces, from maritime resupply to sustaining distributed forces far from established hubs,” said Mark Rodrigo, who leads Federal Business Development at Elroy Air and served as a U.S. Air Force intelligence officer supporting ISR operations across five continents. “One Chaparral can now resupply multiple positions in a single sortie, with no pilot at risk and no personnel required at the drop point. That’s a force multiplier for units operating at the tactical edge.”
