Swoop Aero strengthens partnership with Quickstep Holdings
Next-generation urban aircraft developer expects to scale up its manufacturing capabilities into 2022, which includes the development of composite parts.
Drone logistics service provider Swoop Aero (Melbourne, Australia) has strengthened its partnership with Australia’s independent aerospace composites business, Quickstep Holdings Ltd. (New South Wales, after accepting a strategic investment as it prepares to significantly scale up manufacturing — which involves the development of composite parts, the company told CW — in 2022.
With demand for reliable, sustainable and scalable drone logistics increasing globally, the investment from Quickstep is part of a strategic supply partnership with the high-growth Melbourne-based startup to expand its advanced manufacturing capability and support its continued growth.
The partnership will underpin Swoop Aero’s continued focus on building sovereign manufacturing capability, the resilience of which proved to be a significant strength of the organization in overcoming the industry disruptions caused by COVID-19.
“Our organization is Australian made and grown, so our strategic supplier-operator collaboration with Quickstep maintains our dedicated trajectory to keep our innovation and manufacturing local, driving outcomes for Australian industry which in turn is delivering impact across the globe,” says Eric Peck, Swoop Aero’s CEO and co-founder. “Thanks to Quickstep, we can guarantee that our manufacturing team can meet the increased demand for our aircraft, with up to 1,000 aircraft already planned for manufacture in 2022.”
Swoop Aero’s recently launched KITE unmanned cargo aircraft. Photo Credit: Swoop Aero
Swoop Aero’s next-generation aircraft, the Kite, was announced in July this year and is said to be one of the most advanced commercial drones to be progressed through Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification in the U.S., according to the company. Built for flight in urban and remote environments alike, Kite is backed by Swoop Aero’s comprehensive technology platform.
Since the aircraft’s release, the demand for Swoop Aero’s service and platform partnerships has continued to increase, with a strong cross-continent customer pipeline emerging from the U.S., Europe, Africa and Australia.
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