bell's autonomous APT 70 cargo drone can haul up to 70 pounds

bell textron inc., a textron inc. company, has announced the successful first autonomous flight of the APT 70 drone at their testing site near fort worth, texas. the massive quadcopter uses four propellers to take off and land vertically like a helicopter, and stands at 6 foot (1.82 meters) and 9 feet (2.74 meters) wide. the drone has not been designed to deliver your amazon packages, but to carry military gear, medical supplies, industrial components, and tools.

the APT 70 by bell is part of the eVTOL family of vehicles the company is developing and can reach speeds of more than 100mph (160.93 km/h) with a baseline payload capability of 70lbs. bell’s APT systems allow for flexible mission capabilities while keeping operations simple efficient and fast — the drone is capable of twice the speed and rage of a conventional multirotor. the vehicle has been designed for rapid deployment, quick reconfiguration, and nimble battery swap and recharge.

‘we are excited to reach this milestone, and look forward to continuing to advance this technology for our customers,’ commented scott drennan, vice president, innovation on the first flight. ‘the APT is designed to be capable of various mission sets, from package delivery to critical medical transport to disaster relief. we believe this capability will change the way unmanned aerial systems are used commercially in the future.’

bell is also in collaboration with yamato, a japanese third-party logistics provider, to integrate yamato’s package handling system into APT 70 providing an exceptional customer experience for on-demand logistics services. the bell and yamato team conducted a demonstration showcasing their systems working together in preparation for entry into service anticipated by the early-2020s. watch it on the video above.

project info:

name: APT 70

company: bell