US drone maker Inspired Flight Technologies has unveiled a new medium-lift drone that can carry up to 3 kg of payload and yet fly for more than 40 minutes. According to the California-based company, its IF800 Tomcat drone will start shipping to customers before the end of the year.
Inspired Flight says its upcoming product is the first NDAA-compliant industrial-grade drone that can deliver a flight time of more than 40 minutes while carrying some of the most popular high-resolution cameras and sensors out there. Moreover, it supports dual hot-swappable smart batteries, which allow operators to complete large missions without system resets.
As such, the IF800 Tomcat can be used for a variety of purposes, such as inspecting infrastructure, mapping terrain, or conducting LiDAR surveys. The drone further features a 30-degree upward-angle shooting capability for gimbal-mounted cameras, which makes it easy to inspect wind turbines, bridges, and other critical infrastructure. At the same time, an integrated first-person view (FPV) camera allows operators real-time visual feedback and precise control during flights.
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Inspired Flight is quick to point out that the primary frame of the IF800 Tomcat is lightweight, compact, and foldable — making the drone’s transportation and deployment in various environments quite convenient. Its carrying case has also been specially designed to ensure ample space for batteries and payloads during transit.
But at the end of the day, the company realizes that the primary USP of this new drone is going to be its non-reliance on critical Chinese or other foreign technologies, prohibited by the US National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). As Rick Stollmeyer, CEO of Inspired Flight, sums up:
Most of the key technologies that enable the impressive performance and utility of modern, commercial drones were invented in the United States. The Inspired Flight team is honored to play our part in restoring these capabilities back to our shores.
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