Drones Modern Flying News

Google’s Wing Introduces New Delivery Drone with Double the Payload

The new design doesn’t yet have a name, but it’s built to carry orders the company requires two drones to deliver.

Jack Daleo

Wednesday, January 17, 2024 at 07:42 PM ET

Verified

Edited By: Luke Venable

An early look at Wing’s latest drone, which boasts double the payload of its aircraft in service. [Courtesy: Wing]

Key Takeaways:

Wing, Alphabet's drone delivery service, has introduced a new, larger drone that doubles the payload capacity to 5 pounds, aimed at streamlining bigger orders and reducing the need for multiple drones per delivery.
This new aircraft is part of Wing's "Aircraft Library" and "Wing Delivery Network" strategy, enabling a multimodal delivery model where different drone sizes cater to various order types without replacing existing fleet members.
The announcement follows recent operational advancements, including a significant expansion of drone delivery services with Walmart in Dallas-Fort Worth and obtaining FAA approval for Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations, enhancing efficiency and potential range.

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Wing—the drone delivery arm of Google parent Alphabet so far responsible for more than 350,000 deliveries across three continents—is ready to think bigger.

The company on Wednesday unveiled a new larger drone, which it said will be added to its fleet to “simplify and streamline” bigger orders. Wing will work with partners and regulatory stakeholders to introduce the unnamed model—which boasts double the payload of its predecessor—to service areas worldwide in the next 12 months.

Jack Daleo

Jack is a staff writer covering advanced air mobility, including everything from drones to unmanned aircraft systems to space travel—and a whole lot more. He spent close to two years reporting on drone delivery for FreightWaves, covering the biggest news and developments in the space and connecting with industry executives and experts. Jack is also a basketball aficionado, a frequent traveler and a lover of all things logistics.