Quickstep announces long term contract with Dronamics to produce Black Swan unmanned cargo aircraft
Black Swan is a large, unmanned aircraft designed to be capable of carrying 350kg of cargo over distances in excess of 2,500klms.
Quickstep Holdings Ltd (ASX: QHL) is pleased to announce that its Aerostructures business has secured a substantial contract award from Dronamics for the production and supply of their Black Swan unmanned cargo aircraft, with the potential for thousands of aircraft to be built for the global market.
Dronamics is the world’s first cargo drone airline, based in Europe with a well-advanced global network plan. The Black Swan is a large, unmanned aircraft designed to be capable of carrying 350kg of cargo over distances up to 2,500klms
This initial contract award is the result of several months of detailed negotiations following the announcement of a manufacturing MOU at the Farnborough Airshow in July 2022. Quickstep have undertaken funded engineering work in collaboration with Dronamics during that period, which has supported design finalisation and volume production objectives.
The firm contract covers Phase 0 (Design for Manufacture) engineering; and Phase A (Prototype) supply, on a full cost reimbursement plus fee basis, of 10 low-rate initial production aircraft. These will be split into deliveries of 3 aircraft by October 2023 and 7 further aircraft by July 2024. The anticipated value of the firm contract requirement is likely to be in the range of $4.5 to $5.5 million.
- Strong collaborative program to address global demand
- Quickstep first right of refusal for follow on production
- Potentially thousands of aircraft to be built
- Joint marketing agreement
- Compliance to AS9100D, ISO27001, ISO14001
- 5 year airframe warranty
This project will operate primarily from the Bankstown Airport site, capitalising on its unique infrastructure capabilities available, plus capacity from continuous “smart manufacturing” initiatives being deployed, and utilising world class organisational advanced composite capabilities and know-how to guide our partnerships and customers from the Design for Manufacture and prototype stage, into the steady state, high volume production phase.
