Spright and Dufour Aerospace agree purchase of up to 140 Aero2 unmanned tilt-wing aircraft

Spright, the drone division of Air Methods who provide helicopter emergency medical services, is purchasing 40 Aero2, with options for an additional 100 aircraft from Dufour Aerospace – a Swiss eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) company.

This multimillion-dollar agreement for up to 140 aircraft is the largest commitment by an operator to date for the Aero2 design, and one of the largest civilian unmanned aerial vehicle purchases in US history.

“Dufour Aerospace has developed an impressive Swiss Army Knife for unmanned air mobility that will meet our anticipated future needs. We demonstrate our commitment to their vision and to their technological approach, in which we are proud to be the first operator in the US,” said Joseph Resnik, President of Spright.

The Dufour Aero2 aircraft expands Spright’s opportunity to serve the healthcare community by carrying heavier payload over longer distances, meaning more patient samples, larger tissue specimens and organs, and heavier supplies and equipment being transported.

Thomas Pfammatter, CEO of Dufour Aerospace, said: “Our partnership [with Spright], which extends far beyond unit sales of Aero2, is a significant milestone for us in our development of tilt-wing, unmanned and manned products for advanced air mobility. Spright’s commitment shows that there is great market potential for Aero2 for safe and efficient medium- and long-range operations with unmanned aerial vehicles.”

Spright will help Dufour in obtaining type certification for the Aero2, including technical, data and flight activity support for demonstration purposes.

Drones could not only be useful for the medical needs of civilians, but also for the military.