Skyways starts building Skyreach, a cargo drone that flies 1,300 miles

Skyways has started production of Skyreach, an autonomous cargo drone that takes off vertically, with customer flights from December. It can fly over 1,300 miles with 10 pounds of cargo. It builds on a $37M US Air Force contract.

Austin-based Skyways has launched Skyreach, an autonomous cargo drone that takes off and lands vertically, and has started making it in Texas, the company said on Monday . Flights for its existing defence and commercial customers start in December.

Skyreach uses eight electric motors to lift off and a fuel engine to cruise, which also recharges its batteries in flight. Skyways says it can fly more than 1,300 miles, but only with 10 pounds of cargo. With 80 pounds, the range drops to about 280 miles.

The drone carries up to 100 pounds of fuel and cargo combined and can be set up for deliveries, sensors or communications equipment. Skyways says it costs about a tenth as much as a helicopter. Its spec sheet calls the figures design specifications that may change while flight tests continue.

Skyreach is the production version of Skyways’ V3 drone. In June 2025, the V3 won a $37M US Air Force contract to move into full-rate production, The Defense Post reported . The Pentagon has since set up an Autonomous Warfare Command to scale up drones across the armed forces.

“ Our ambition is to deploy a network of over 1,000 autonomous aircraft for defense and commercial customers within five years, ” said Charles Acknin, Skyways’ co-founder and chief executive.

Other cargo drone makers are moving too. Elroy Air flew its Chaparral from a working airport in Louisiana in August, and is reportedly nearing an $800M SPAC deal . In Europe, Munich’s ERC System has unveiled Victor , a heavier cargo drone it plans to start delivering in 2028.