Parallel Flight Technologies signs DOD Firefly heavy-lift drone deal

California drone startup Parallel Flight Technologies (PFT) has secured work from a unit of the US Department of Defense to develop its super heavy-lift Firefly UAV to fulfill the agency’s critical, long-distance mission objectives.

PFT said it had concluded a contract with the department’s Defense Innovation Unit to develop and adapt the heavy-lift, long-flying hybrid vertical takeoff and landing drone for specific demands of DOD missions. Those include enabling beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flights of Firefly’s maximal 280-mile-plus capacity.

The value of the agreement was cited as $1 million, for which PFT will also work to reduce the drone’s time-between-overhaul requirements. 

La Selva Beach, California-based PFT said the accord – covered under the National Security Innovation Capital (NSIC) program – is the first phase of an anticipated multi-part relationship. As part of that,  the startup’s Firefly drones will…