Oshkosh Defense to pilot drone manufacturing

Lifter lite is an unmanned aerial system designed by Grid Aero. (Grid Aero)

Oshkosh Defense has partnered with unmanned aerial system (UAS) manufacturer Grid Aero to prototype a process to build its cargo air vehicle, the company announced on 2 November.

Oshkosh Defense has the supply chain management and life cycle support experience that could help a smaller company getting into the defence space, Logan Jones, chief growth officer for Oshkosh, told Janes on 29 October. The companies hope to capitalise on the Department of Defense (DoD) interest in building UAS and fielding them more quickly, Jones and Arthur Dubois, CEO of Grid Aero, told Janes .

Dubois told Janes the company hopes to price the UAS between USD500,000 to USD3 million. On the smaller end of its aircraft, the price would be between USD500,000 and USD1 million, while on the larger designs the cost could be USD2.5 million to USD3 million, he said.

“It's a bit of a scale because we're getting asked for very long-range aircraft,” he said in an interview on 2 November. “There's … some that are more shorter range but more attributable, and so we want to be able to work that whole gamut of solutions” for the DoD, he said. One of the designs for an aircraft called Lifter Lite has a payload capacity of about 2,000 lbs (907.2 kg) and 450 sq ft (42 sq m) for up to 2,000 nm, according to a company brochure.