Aquiline Drones (AD) signed an exclusive manufacturing and distribution deal on October 16, 2020, with Drone Volt, a French aeronautic manufacturer of professional civilian drones, on-board artificial intelligence, edge computing and unmanned aerial systems (UAS) production.
Aquiline Drones is based in Hartford, Connecticut, and is a manufacturer of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and is a cloud solutions provider for commercial drone operations.
The terms of a five-year agreement states that Aquiline Drones will take over the global production of two popular and proven drones from Drone Volt’s products, which include the Hercules 2 and the popular, Altura Zenith. In addition, Aquiline Drones will also be the exclusive manufacturer of the Pensar smart camera — a multispectral sensor — complete with artificial intelligence and edge computing capabilities.*
Furthermore, Aquiline Drones will be the sole provider of the Hercules 2, Altura Zenith and the Pensar in the U.S., thereby filling a need in American-made drone products and systems.
Barry Alexander, CEO and founder of Aquiline Drones, stated:
“We are delighted beyond measure for this aptly timed and mutually beneficial union with Drone Volt. While we have been in operation for just under two years, we spent almost four years incubating this idea of making Hartford ‘Drone Central’ and the State of Connecticut the ‘Drone Capital’ of the US. Our partnership with Drone Volt has catapulted us to the front of the line with world-class design and unmatched capabilities in the commercial drone space.”*
According to CFO of Drone Volt, Sylvain Navarro:
“This contract is a historic step for our group as it turns the largest market in the world into an important profit sector. Over the last months, we have created a strong relationship with the Aquiline Drones’ team, which could lead to additional contracts in the future.”*
This development opens the way for U.S.-based manufacturers of drones, such as Aquiline Drones, to enter an industry, which is growing at an annual rate of 13.8% with a potential market of $127 billion.
Retired General Brooks Bash, Chief Strategic Advisor at Aquiline Drones, said:
“Being able to fill the national UAS void with competitively-priced, American- made drone products and supporting 100% U.S. supply chain is a must – we are extremely proud of this achievement. What started as a casual conversation between our companies has quickly morphed into a close collaboration of synergies to address the needs of an extremely underserved market worldwide and, principally, in the United States.”*
Aquiline Drones’ production has very ambitious plans as they plan to manufacture 1,300 drones by the end of 2020 and with as much as 10,000 drones per month by the end of 2021. In addition, the company also plans to add 55 new technical and manufacturing jobs in Hartford by the end of this year, with the goal of providing more than 1,000 positions by the end of 2024.*
The terms of the deal require that both companies will exchange 10% of each company’s ownership and such an arrangement is scheduled to be completed before the end of 2020.
Alexander expresses his enthusiasm for the partnership with Drone Volt:
“We believe an exchange in equity strengthens our commitment to each other to ensure we do what we can to move both brands forward optimally. Our partnership with Drone Volt, as a publicly-traded company in Europe, will ensure robust and steady growth for its shareholders, while allowing us at Aquiline Drones access to years of cutting-edge research and development in UAS technology. This union makes both companies more potent than the sum of our parts, allowing for a US-based provider of commercial drone solutions both at home and abroad.”*
Future
The U.S. manufacturing and distribution licensing agreements between two visionary companies — Drone Volt, known for its aeronautic manufacturing of professional civilian drones, on-board artificial intelligence, edge computing and unmanned aerial systems (UAS) production — and Aquiline Drones, a manufacturer of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and cloud solutions provider for commercial drone operations, — combine to become a provider in U.S. of commercial drone solutions.