US startup launches world’s largest autonomous electric cargo plane

close video Pyka’s Pelican Cargo debuts as the world’s largest pilotless plan

Pyka CEO Michael Norcia unveils the world’s largest all-electric autonomous cargo plane on ‘The Claman Countdown.’

Pyka CEO Michael Norcia discusses the potential for the "Pelican," an autonomous electric plane designed for complex agricultural operations on farms. Norcia tells "The Claman Countdown" the goal is to have an aircraft that can affordably operate with minimal infrastructure while delivering critical cargo to people who need it. 

MICHAEL NORCIA: I think humanitarian cargo’s a really relevant use case for drones like what we’re building. Really the goal is to have an aircraft that can operate from very, very minimal infrastructure in a really affordable way, and right now that’s just not possible with piloted aircraft. We’re still early days with the vehicle, it's not quite ready to send to Turkey, but we’re getting there.

UPS, FEDEX PARTNER AIRLINE AGREES TO BUY 20 PILOTLESS CARGO PLANES IN $134M DEAL

It’s mostly customers who are looking to do basically daily delivery between two locations and a fairly minimal infrastructure or don’t have enough cargo volume to warrant a large aircraft, etc. So interisland commerce is a relative use case right off the bat.  close video Tech startup Xwing tests self-flying air cargo carrier ‘Superpilot’

FOX Business’ Grady Trimble reports from Concord, California, where Xwing is testing flight operations of its ‘Superpilot’ cargo carrier.