Los Angeles-based Neros Technologies has been contracted to supply 6,000 first-person view attack drones to Ukraine.
It is part of an international coalition to procure unmanned aerial vehicles for Ukraine and includes the delivery of Neros Archer drones over six months.
This is considered the highest supply rate for any US drone producer.
“One of the first things we did when we started the company was go to Ukraine, and we were told that if we could not make 5,000 drones per month we were essentially useless,” Forbes quoted Neros co-founder and CEO Soren Monroe-Anderson as saying.
“So we set out with this in mind.”
Archer Drone
The Archer carries a 4.5-pound (2-kilogram) warhead and has a range of over 12 miles (20 kilometers).
It can fly day and night and in adverse weather.
The 8-inch (20 centimeters) drone features a jam-resistant design and “operates on multiple control frequencies and has a wide-band video transmitter,” according to Forbes.
No Chinese Parts
Moreover, it comprises no Chinese components, a rarity for drone manufacturers due to cost considerations.
“Historically, the hardest components to source outside of China have been motors and cameras,” Monroe-Anderson explained to Forbes.
“For both we have worked closely with partners to scale up production lines outside of China.”
The contract does not include payloads, which will be installed in-house by the Ukrainians.
