Dronamics, the middle-mile cargo drone developer and operator, will work with Quickstep Holdings, a tier one manufacturer and the largest independent aerospace composites business in Australia, to accelerate the production of the drones.

With the first units landing in 2023, the long-term plan targets the ramp-up of production of hundreds of Black Swan cargo drones annually in the next four years.

The agreement comes at a key time as Dronamics recently became the first cargo drone company to obtain a European drone airline license, and is gearing up to launch commercial operations in Europe before the end of this year before entering Australia from 2023.

The manufacturing will take place in Quickstep's Australian facilities. Konstantin Rangelov, co-founder and chief technology officer of Dronamics, says: “The first strategic manufacturing partnership is a key milestone in our mission to enable same day delivery for everyone, everywhere. As an innovator who is challenging the status quo in cargo mobility, we are thrilled to have the support of an experienced partner like Quickstep to help us realise the full potential of our solution.”

Mark Burgess, Quickstep ceo, adds: “Quickstep shares Dronamics passion for innovation and this is an exciting partnership. We are delighted to be taking their Black Swan aircraft from prototype to production. The Dronamics solution could well revolutionise the middle-mile cargo delivery sector and this partnership gives Quickstep the opportunity to provide our engineering and manufacturing expertise into delivering a large sophisticated cargo drone. This is also a great opportunity to advance the Australian aerospace sector, something we are very passionate about.”