Most drones are getting smaller. But today Wing announced a new drone that is actually bigger.
Just as an SUV can carry more people and goods than a small golf cart, larger drones can carry more goods, which is critical to Wing's mission to become the leader in drone delivery. So far, the Wing's existing fleet of commercial aircraft has been able to carry about 2.5 pounds worth of payload. This latest addition is essentially twice as powerful and can carry a standard cardboard shipping box with a payload of up to 5 pounds.
All without having to sacrifice distance or flight speed. Like the Wing's existing aircraft, the new aircraft has a round-trip range of 12 miles and can fly at approximately 65 miles per hour.
“We will be introducing additional aircraft to our fleet that will simplify and streamline large orders,” Wing CEO Adam Woodworth wrote in a blog post about the news.
If you live in an area where the Wing operates (in the United States, that mainly means the Dallas-Forth area in Texas), you can expect to see the new aircraft flying within the next 12 months.
What is a wing?
Wing is the drone delivery subsidiary of Alphabet, which owns Google. Wing is considered the second largest drone delivery company in the world, after Zipline. Although both are based in California's Silicon Valley, the two companies take significantly different approaches.
Zipline primarily focuses on delivering medical products to rural areas in developing countries in Africa. Wing focuses primarily on consumer product delivery. Drones will carry items like Walgreens pharmacy items, gifts and sweet treats from Sugar Magnolia, takeout food from DoorDash, and more to people's homes in parts of the U.S., Australia, and soon, around Ireland.
The two companies have seen their paths converge recently, thanks to retail giant Walmart. In 2021, Walmart tapped Zipline to help with drone deliveries. However, in August 2023, Walmart also partnered with Wing (while retaining Zipline). In early January 2024, Walmart made it clear that it was further expanding its drone presence. Using Zipline and Wing together, Walmart has been able to provide drone deliveries to more than 60,000 homes in the Dallas-Fort Worth area to date. However, with massive expansion plans underway (and fueled by Wing's new larger drones), the service is set to expand to millions of customers by 2024. In fact, at CES 2024, Walmart announced its grand goal of using both Wing and Zipline. The goal is to serve 75% of the local population.