Manufacturer and operator of long-range unmanned helicopter systems for BVLOS missions
SwissDrones Long-Range VTOL AG
Zurich (Head Office) · Buchs SG (Manufacturing)New on Amplifa
About SwissDrones
SwissDrones is a Swiss company founded in 2013 and a manufacturer as well as operator of long-range unmanned helicopter systems (VTOL) for missions beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS). The flagship SDO 50 is a twin-rotor aircraft (Flettner tandem rotor) with a maximum take-off weight of 87 kg, a payload of up to 33,2 kg and a flight endurance of up to around 3 hours. It serves as a replacement for manned helicopters in the inspection of critical infrastructure such as high-voltage power lines and pipelines, in surveillance tasks, and in search and rescue missions – including at night and in adverse weather conditions. The systems are approved in over 30 countries for long-range BVLOS operations and can be flexibly integrated with high-quality sensor and camera payloads. In addition to manufacturing, the company offers flight operations, support with regulatory approvals, and data collection and processing (Aerial Intelligence) as an integrated solution. The head office is located in Zurich, with manufacturing in Buchs (St. Gallen); the aircraft are in operation in Asia, Europe and North America.
- Site
- Zürich
- Processes
- Flight operations/BVLOS missions, Sensor and camera integration, Data collection and processing (Aerial Intelligence), Regulatory approvals for BVLOS, Operation as permanent installation, ship-based operation or van-transportable
- Materials
- VTOL drone / unmanned helicopter (Flettner twin rotor)
- Founded
- 2013
- Industries
- Energy supply/utilities, Oil & Gas, Public Safety, Search and Rescue, Infrastructure Inspection, Aerospace Research
- 01
Engineering and development of the flight system
- 02
Manufacturing and assembly in Buchs
- 03
Sensor and camera integration
- 04
Regulatory approval for BVLOS
- 05
Flight operations and mission execution
- 06
Data collection and processing (Aerial Intelligence)
Technology & Equipment
VTOL drone / unmanned helicopter (Flettner twin rotor)
Long-range flight system with turbine propulsion (JET A-1), fully autonomous flight, endurance of up to 3,1 h and flexible sensor integration.
Locations
Zurich
CHHead Office
Buchs
CHManufacturing Site
- Part weight / size
- MTOW 87 kg, dimensions 2,32 x 0,7 x 0,92 m
- Materials
- SDO 50 VTOL drone
- SDO 50 V3 production line
Flight Systems
Inside the production
Industries
1 Anlagen & Maschinen
| Machine | Manufacturer / model | Quantity | Working area | Year built | Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VTOL drone / unmanned helicopter (twin rotor) | SwissDrones SDO 50 V3 | – | – | – | Buchs (St. Gallen), Switzerland (manufacturing) |
Additional services
Reference customers
History
- 2013
Founding of SwissDrones
- 2021
First BVLOS missions with heavy drones over 25 kg in Belgium for Elia Group
- 2024
Series B financing of USD 10 Mio. completed with DiamondStream Partners, Chevron Technology Ventures and Ingleside Investors (April 2)
- 2025
Southern Company becomes the first US utility to receive an FAA BVLOS exemption using SwissDrones systems (February)
- 2025
First hardware contract with Southern Company (June)
- 2026
Partnership with Xplorate for long-range inspection in the USA