Scandron Receives DGCA Type Certification For Its Logistics Drone

Logistics drone startup Scandron has secured the Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s (DGCA’s) type certification for its logistics drone CargoMax 500HE. 

With this, Scandron has become the first company in India to receive this certification, its parent Magellanic Cloud claimed in an exchange filing.

With the certification, Scandron said it is all set to introduce drone-based logistics solutions in the market.

Scandron was set up by Magellanic Cloud’s COO Arjun Naik in April 2022. The Bengaluru-based startup manufactures and operates various drones, including logistics drones, agri spraying drones and custom drones. It also offers inspection services to various sectors like oil and gas and defence.

Its flagship drone, CargoMax 500HE, has a max payload of 5 kilograms. It can fly at a speed of 12 metres per second and has a flight ceiling of 5,000 metres. Scandron touts the drone to be an ideal transporter of goods between warehouses.  

Securing the DGCA type approval for its logistics drone will help the company enhance its mid and last-mile delivery, streamline its ecommerce logistics, and facilitate critical medical deliveries to remote regions. 

Magellanic Cloud also said that the startup has also entered into a strategic partnership with logistics solution provider CriticaLog India to offer B2B and hub-to-hub drone deliveries across 160 Indian cities. 

The partnership will see Scandron’s CargoMax series drones utilise CriticaLog’s expertise in logistics to enhance delivery services in various sectors, including healthcare, ecommerce, and NFO.

“We stand at the forefront of a new era in aerial logistics, and this achievement reinforces our commitment to responsible and innovative drone solutions. Along with our recently launched Command and Control Centre in Bengaluru, Scandron remains dedicated to developing technologies that not only meet the highest standards of safety and reliability but also contribute to the sustainable and efficient evolution of industries reliant on logistics and transportation,” Naik commented on the development. 

According to The Drone Rules, 2021, drones require Unique Identity Numbers (UIN) for operation in the Indian airspace. The government’s nodal body Certification Scheme for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (CSUAS) grants the DGCA type certificates after lab testing to ensure the safety, security, and reliability of UAVs through material, environmental, and operational assessments.

While Reliance-backed Asteria Aerospace and Adani-backed General Aeronautics have also received type certificates from the DGCA for their products, no other competitor in the drone space has been granted type certification for logistics drones. 

In the logistics drones space, Scrandron competes with the likes of TSAW Drones and Skye Air.