Elroy Air Makes 1st A to B Cargo Delivery With its Hybrid-electric VTOL Aircraft Chaparral

Elroy Air, the leading developer of autonomous aerial systems for middle-mile logistics and military resupply, announced today that it successfully completed its first point A to point B cargo delivery using the first-of-its-kind drone, Chaparral.

Elroy Air is redefining autonomous cargo transport with the Chaparral — an advanced vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft built to carry up to 300 pounds of cargo across 300 miles without a crew onboard. Chaparral was engineered with a hybrid-electric powertrain to meet the needs of our commercial and defense customers, with high utilization, no charging infrastructure required, and increased range.

Designed with speed, safety, and operational efficiency in mind, the Chaparral enables next-generation logistics at a fraction of the capital and operational costs of traditional piloted helicopters. From tactical resupply to humanitarian aid, Chaparral enables rapid aerial cargo delivery while keeping personnel out of harm’s way. Its autonomous operations enhance mission resilience by ensuring critical cargo reaches the point of need safely, securely and reliably.

During the historic milestone flight on December 10th, the hybrid-electric vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) drone autonomously carried 213 lbs over a flight distance of 2.6 miles in Byron, California. The aircraft took off vertically, accelerated to a speed of approximately 60mph and then performed a vertical landing at a second location half a mile away, where Chaparral delivered lunch to the Elroy Air team to celebrate the milestone.

“This delivery is the realization of the value of the Chaparral, an autonomous, hybrid-electric drone capable of delivering hundreds of pounds of cargo without the need for runways or infrastructure,” said Elroy Air CEO Andrew Clare, Ph.D. “We thought about what the first delivery should be and decided to deliver lunch to the team who has worked tirelessly to make this vision a reality. As we move into 2026 having completed these critical milestones and now focused on scaling production with Kratos, Chaparral is ready to go to work to unlock unprecedented operational capacity for our commercial and defense customers.”

The delivery was conducted with the company’s Hatch Load Pod. The pod is a rear-access cargo module designed for rapid ground operations, enabling streamlined workflows, and minimal ground handling requirements. This pod is one of the many payload designs to enable multi-mission operations. Others include the Express Pod, Heavy Payload Pod, Pelican Case, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) Pod, Climate-Control Pod, and Air Drop Pod.

“One of the remarkable outcomes of working closely with the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Marine Corps and allied forces, as well as logistics titans like FedEx and Bristow Group throughout the development of Chaparral is that we’ve been able to develop Chaparral to be a modular platform capable of flexing with the countless missions and operations our partners can imagine,” said Founder and Executive Chairman Dave Merrill. “It is great to see Chaparral flying further, faster, with heavier payloads and now making deliveries week after week but what’s most exciting is seeing Chaparral rising to the occasion to meet the unique and expanding operational needs of our customers.”

The announcement comes after an eventful year for the company who this summer began longer range flights including multiple 25 mile flights in September and recently announced Kratos Defense & Security Solutions as its exclusive U.S. manufacturing partner for the Chaparral in a strategic manufacturing agreement to accelerate high-volume production.