Elroy Air Demonstrates Three Unattended Delivery Modes for the US Army

U.S. Army evaluates DropShip, a drone built for risky resupply missions

An electric cargo drone that did not exist ten weeks ago just spent days flying nonstop supply runs for one of the U.S. Army’s biggest technology experiments, hauling everything from field rations to medical gear into locations a traditional cargo plane could never reach. Pyka, an autonomous aviation company based in Alameda, California, announced this […]

Elroy Air cargo drone, to be built in Sacramento, performs fully autonomous deliveries for US Army

Elroy Air Demonstrates Three Unattended Delivery Modes for the US Army

Chaparral is the name of one of the most interesting and innovative heavy-cargo drones right now, and it just got even better. An autonomous aircraft fitted with swappable cargo pods for fast, efficient cargo delivery, Chaparral is now able to deliver payloads in three different ways – a new capability specifically requested by the US Army. The California-based Elroy Air has recently beefed up its flagship heavy-cargo drone in r... (continue rea…

US Army-backed cargo drone delivers supplies three ways in one sortie

Elroy Air has expanded the mission profile of its autonomous Chaparral cargo aircraft with three new unattended delivery modes developed for the U.S. Army, allowing the drone to deliver supplies without personnel or equipment at the receiving site. The new capabilities let the aircraft release cargo from a hover, drop payloads while flying forward, or land and unload autonomously, giving military units more options to resupply forces operating i…

Elroy Air develops three new air cargo delivery modes for its Chaparral drone

Elroy Air has announced that the company has created three new unattended delivery modes for its Chaparral drone, developed under contract with the U.S. Army. “Chaparral can now deliver payloads 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,” said the company in a press release. “In a demonstration at the company’s Byron, California headquarters on July 15, 2026, Chaparral 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, a requirement for communications-denied environments. Neither drop required personnel at the delivery point. Elroy Air separately demonstrated ground delivery without attending personnel, in which the aircraft released its payload after landing.” “The Army asked us for these unattended delivery capabilities, and we developed them on time and on budget in a single autonomous aircraft. That’s real capability for the warfighter, and it carries straight over to our commercial customers as well,” said Andrew Clare, CEO of Elroy Air. “Next we will begin testing in the field alongside the U.S. Army in exercises designed to rapidly put these capabilities into the hands of our soldiers.” The Chaparral can now carry swappable cargo pods that allow a single aircraft to support different missions without airframe reconfiguration, runway or ground infrastructure, or delivery equipment or personnel. The aircraft can release cargo from hover for precision placement, in forward flight when speed or altitude must be maintained, or on the ground when conditions permit, said the company. The capability supports missions where landing is not possible or would reveal a position, including contested environments, disaster response, maritime operations, and austere terrain. “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.” These new delivery modes will be available on production Chaparral aircraft, which will be manufactured by Kratos Defense & Security Solutions under Kratos and Elroy Air’s U.S. manufacturing partnership. On July 20, 2026, Kratos announced that it will manufacture Elroy Air’s Chaparral autonomous cargo aircraft in its expanding Sacramento, California production facility. For more information https://elroyair.com/company/news/press-releases/chaparral-unattended-delivery-modes-for-US-Army-contract/ (Image: Elroy Air)

Elroy Air Demonstrates Multiple Unattended Delivery Modes With Cargo Drone

Elroy Air on Wednesday said it recently demonstrated three modes of autonomous cargo delivery for the Army using the company’s fixed-wing hybrid-electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. The demonstration at […]