Pentagon-backed trials move drone cargo flights beyond visual range in U.S. airspace
A Pentagon-funded program has completed a string of beyond-visual-line-of-sight cargo drone flights, pushing uncrewed logistics closer to routine use in U.S. national airspace.
The flights were carried out under Project ULTRA at the GrandSKY UAS Flight Operations Center near Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota. As of July 18, the team had completed five successful round-trip missions between GrandSKY and Cavalier Space Force Station, about 60 miles away. Each sortie included remotely operated takeoff, cruise, landing, and payload exchange at both ends. The current target under the project phase is 10 flights by July 25, with additional missions possible if conditions allow.
The aircraft comes from SkyWays, an Austin, Texas-based company developing logistics drones for ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore operations. The platform can fly in light rain and in winds up to about 20 knots, though heavier rain has at times limited operations. Flights are taking place at 3,000 to 3,400 feet above ground level over farmland between the two sites. To secure approval for BVLOS operations in national airspace, the project went through Federal Aviation Administration processes. A ground-based detect-and-avoid system using local Air Force radar lets operators monitor traffic out to roughly 60 miles from the launch point and maintain safe separation.
Current payloads weigh about 25 to 35 pounds per trip. The longer-term goal is to lift that to 50 to 100 pounds. Once the current flight series ends, the team will shift to reporting and data analysis. A third task order could follow by the end of 2025, with a focus on streamlining operations and cutting the 20 to 25 people now involved in flight processing to a much smaller team. That matters because the next hurdle is no longer proving the aircraft can fly. It is proving these missions can be run safely, repeatedly, and at a cost that makes drone cargo practical at scale.