Wing, the drone delivery company run by Alphabet, plans to launch a larger aircraft capable of hauling heavier packages to doorsteps.Wing's news comes on the heels of Walmart's decision to expand its drone delivery operations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, so it's no wonder Wing is working to upgrade its stock; Wing is one of Walmart's two drone delivery companies, along with Zipline. Walmart said last week that a quarter of the items in its large supermarkets do not meet size and weight requirements for drone delivery.
Wing’s current drones can only handle packages weighing up to 2.5 pounds. Wing revealed that the upcoming larger drone, which is awaiting approval from the Federal Aviation Administration, can handle "standard cardboard boxes weighing up to 5 pounds."
It’s worth noting that Amazon’s delivery drones also have a 5-pound weight limit. The online shopping giant aims to expand drone delivery operations to the UK and Italy by 2024.
Meanwhile, Wing said it aims to bring its own ultra-large aircraft to market within the next year.
Wing CEO Adam Woodworth said in a statement: "Enabling a multi-modal drone delivery model has always been a vision of ours. We are currently focused on launching new aircraft, and our hangar design concept allows us to test and build new drones based on the needs of our customers and partners."
When Wing drones arrive at their destination, they don't land; instead, they place individual packages on a wire and slowly lower them to the ground. To date, Wing claims to have completed 350,000 deliveries across three continents. In the United States, the company says it has registered more than 1,000 drones.