Orca - Hybrid-electric eVTOL cargo drone

Orca is a hybrid-electric Group IV eVTOL UAS that is designed to efficiently load, transport and deploy palletized cargo weighing 550 lbs up to a range of 600 miles. It is designed to be a low cost, fully autonomous drone with commercial applications that include expedited shipping of food, water, freight, perishables, emergency supplies and equipment. It is a highly versatile platform with the potential for deployment in Agile Combat Employment (ACE) environments. It aims to be an attritable platform suitable for use on high risk, high reward missions where significant cargo transportation (weight, volume and/or range) is required and where soldiers lives need saving without placing additional soldiers at risk. Orca is a modular platform that uses COTS components to reduce cost (both initial purchase and MRO) while also improving serviceability in the field. It requires only a fuel source for operation as the hybrid-electric powertrain provides onboard battery charging for the VTOL battery pack. The proposed R&D will identify the delta between the commercial Orca design and a potential mil-spec USAF Orca. This delta will be determined through an exploration of the conops and use cases with the DoD customer. It is expected to cover specific DoD needs and requirements such as transportation, storage, modularity, cargo bay security, ballistics protection, fuel type, battery chemistry, cargo loading, user interfaces and digital interfaces.