Vira Drones M-1000D (concept design)
M-1000D Logistic (concept design)
Vira Drones
Payerne, Switzerland
www.viradrones.com
Vira Drones was founded in November 2018 by CEO Valeriy Gorshkov and CTO Igor Maslov. The company has offices in both Germany and Switzerland. The company is in the business of making medium-lift and heavy-lift, air cargo and fire-rescue, hybrid-electric vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) drones for advanced air mobility (AAM). On January 26, 2022, Vira Drones was acquired by ILUS International. (Image credit: Vira Drones)
The company is also designing several modular heavy-lift air cargo drones that will connect to each other to form a larger aircraft and these drones will be able to haul heavier and larger-sized payloads. The company's drones are being designed to have a long flight range, a long flight time and be able to fly in most weather conditions.
M-1000D Logistic heavy-lift air cargo hybrid-electric VTOL concept design modular drone
The M-1000D Logistic is a heavy-lift air cargo hybrid-electric VTOL concept design modular drone. The drone is flown using autopilot or has a remote controlled option. The air cargo is carried completely inside the rectangular shaped fuselage. The front and rear of the drone have covers that open for the easy entry and exit of cargo loads. It is unknown how many drones can be connected together to form a larger carrying drone. The company has planned to have at least two drone to be connected to each other and there is a possibility that three drones can connect to each other and fly successfully. To connect two drone successfully, there is a middle fuselage module (as seen above) that is used to connect the drones together.
The M-1000D has an projected cruise speed between 150 km/h (92 mph) and the maximum payload weight of each module is unknown. The maximum payload weight depends upon the number of M-1000D drones are connected to each other. The company has stated they are in the business of heavy-lift cargo drones. It is important to remember that all concept design aircraft specifications are estimated and can or will change as prototypes and production models are made, tested and flown with real world avionics, components and payloads. The width and height of the air cargo objects will be limited to the inside dimensions of the drone's fuselage.
The each drone module has two propellers, two electric motors and has a hybrid-electric power source. The fuselage is made from carbon fiber composite for a high strength to low weight ratio. The drone lands on fixed skid landing gear. It is unknown if the drones shown are subscale mock-ups or if they are full-scale mock-ups of this drone model. The modular design will allow an increase in payload capacity, flight range or both. However, it is important to remember the avionics and controller needs to be adjusted when a drone becomes a larger drone, to handle the heavier payload weight, handle the larger size of the drone and to have more propellers work in conjunction with each other during flight.
Aerial mission applications
The company foresees their heavy-lift air cargo drones for logistic purposes for missions such as construction, agriculture, ship-to-shore, humanitarian aid and in war zones.
Specifications:
- Aircraft type: Heavy-lift hybrid-electric VTOL concept design modular aircraft
- Piloting: Autopilot or has remote controlled option
- Capacity: Air cargo only
- Cruise speed: 150 km/h (92 mph)
- Maximum payload weight: Unknown
- Propellers: 2 propellers (Two modules: 4 propellers. Three modules: 6 propellers.)
- Electric motors: 2 electric motors (Two modules: 4 electric motors. Three modules: 6 electric motors.)
- Power source: Hybrid-electric power source
- Fuselage: Carbon fiber composite. When two drones are connected, there needs to be one additional piece of fuselage for the drones to be connected. If three drones are connected, there will need to be two additional pieces of fuselage for the drones to be connected together.
- Landing gear: Fixed skid landing gear
- Safety features: Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP) means having multiple propellers (or electric ducted fans) and multiple electric motors on an aircraft so if one or more propellers (or electric ducted fans) or some electric motors fail, the other working propellers (or electric ducted fans) and electric motors can safely land the aircraft. DEP provides safety through redundancy for its passengers or cargo. There are also redundancies of critical components in the sub-systems of the aircraft providing safety through redundancy for its passengers or cargo. Having multiple redundant systems on any aircraft decreases having any single point of failure.
Related Aircraft:
- Vira Drones M-250 Logistic (concept design)
- Vira Drones M-450 Fire Rescue (concept design)
- Vira Drones M-500 Logistic (concept design)
- Vira Drones M-750 Logistic (concept design)
- Vira Drones M-1000 Helicopter (concept design)
- Vira Drones M-1000A Logistic (concept design)
- Vira Drones M-1000B Logistic (concept design)
- Vira Drones M-1000C Logistic (concept design)
Company Insights:
- Vira Drones CB Insights
- Vira Drones Crunchbase
- Vira Drones Pitchbook
- Vira Drones Tracxn
- Ilustrato Pictures International website
- Ilustrato Pictures International MarketWatch
- Ilustrato Pictures International Pitchbook
Resources:
- Vira Drones website
- Vira Drones Facebook
- Vira Drones Twitter
- Vira Drones YouTube Channel
- Vira Drones Instagram
- Vira Drones LinkedIn
- Video: The Ark (VIRA M450), Vira Drones, Nov. 8, 2019
- Video: Various types of body, Vira Drones, Oct. 25, 2021
- Article: OTC: ILUS, ILUS International (Ilustrato Pictures International Inc), Acquires Vira Drones, a European Manufacturer of Pioneering Industrial Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Rescue and Logistics, Yahoo! Finance, Jan. 26, 2022
- Article: ILUS Acquires European Industrial Drone Company Vira Drones, UAS Vision, Feb. 1, 2022
- Video: Test flights of the coaxial helicopter with push propeller, Vira Drones, May 4, 2023
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