San Francisco, UNITED STATES – It seems the drone industry has noticed a niche in middle distance logistics, which has seen a mini scramble for the manufacture of cargo drones that are set to give other middle-distance delivery means of transport a good run for their money.

The latest cargo drone on the scene targeting this market is from US cargo drone maker Volansi Inc, which has just unveiled the VOLY 50, a new drone for middle distance unmanned aerial logistics.

In a statement, the company said their newest unmanned aerial vehicle is “a multirole, long-haul vehicle offering superior flight range and flexible payload capacity.”

Volansi further said the new VOLY 50 series was designed to meet the exacting requirements of commercial customers operating in remote locations, as well as military customers who demand a small footprint in a flexible vehicle for aerial logistics and Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) applications.

“The VOLY 50 was designed with the flexibility to meet the growing demand for rapid delivery of critical assets as well as to conduct ISR missions using a small operational footprint,” said Volansi Co-Founder and CEO, Hannan Parvizian. “With its long-haul capability and modular design, the VOLY 50 represents a new opportunity to completely disrupt how critical assets are delivered, by minimizing personnel and filling the gap where traditional delivery mechanisms are unable to achieve the mission.”

In terms of specs, the new multi-purpose drone comes with the capability to simultaneously carry up to 50 pounds of cargo (about 23kg), including an ISR or sensor payload option. Depending on payload configurations, the VOLY 50 has a flight range of over 400 miles (about 644km) and can cruise at up to 80kts (150km/hr) for up to eleven hours in a single mission set, making it the superior solution in its class for flight range and payload capacity.

“The VOLY 50 features redundant lift motors as well as a modular, open system design, allowing for quick and efficient assembly in the field with minimal personnel required,” Volansi said. “The VOLY 50 utilizes VTOL with a fixed-wing, pusher-driven, forward flight mode.

“Today the VOLY 50 operates on gasoline; future versions will allow for the customer’s choice of heavy-fuel (JP5/JP8/Kerosene) or gasoline engines, allowing customers to use a fuel source that is readily available to them. Volansi plans for the VOLY 50 to be in low-rate production in 2023 and will be NDAA compliant (what they mean is that their camera surveillance equipment does not include any chips or components from China).”

Volansi’s new drone will be fighting for dominance in the middle-distance logistics space with other drone companies like Dronamics, which is racking up partnerships in Europe in preparation for the launch of its own cargo drone business.