Unmanned cargo aircraft Lifter: Oshkosh Defense and Grid Aero plan series production

Oshkosh Defense intends to bring an unmanned cargo aircraft to production readiness together with California-based Grid Aero: the Lifter. The two companies have agreed a strategic partnership for this purpose, aimed at strengthening military logistics in contested theatres of operation.

Grid Aero, based in Silicon Valley, contributes its development expertise to the cooperation, while Oshkosh Defense provides the industrial capacity. The autonomous Lifter is to be prepared for high-volume production at low cost.

The Lifter is designed specifically for demanding operating conditions. The unmanned aircraft is powered by a piston engine and combines a rugged design with widely available materials. Its modular construction allows it to be adapted to different transport tasks.

Arthur Dubois, CEO of Grid Aero, describes the goal as follows: “We developed the Lifter to fundamentally reduce the cost of long-range air operations.” According to Dubois, military trucks served as just as much of a model for the design as conventional aircraft.

Unmanned cargo aircraft for large-scale production

Within the partnership, Oshkosh Defense is responsible for three main tasks: further development for manufacturability, production planning and optimised supply chains. In the longer term, the aircraft are to be built in larger numbers at the company’s existing plants in the US state of Wisconsin.

The background is growing demand from the US Armed Forces for low-cost unmanned aerial vehicles in Groups 4 and 5. They are to be deployable in contested airspace as well, with payloads that can be changed depending on the mission.

For now, the two companies are working on preparing production and are in talks with potential military customers. No specific orders, production figures or delivery dates have been made public so far.