Vanilla Aircraft Becomes Vanilla Unmanned - New Owners

Platform Aerospace, which provides rapid aircraft and drone prototyping, modification, and systems integration, has established a joint venture with an unnamed partner to acquire substantially all the assets of Vanilla Aircraft, which designed and built the VA001 ultra-endurance UAS.

The joint venture, named Vanilla Unmanned, will leverage Platform Aerospace’s prototyping and integration experience and the partner’s experience with aerospace and defense electronics to further develop the record-setting VA001, “creating a disruptive persistent aerial solution for both military and commercial applications,” the new company says.

The VA001 is a Group 3 UAS intended to be payload and mission agnostic, or “vanilla.” It’s capable for flying continuously for up to 10 days, providing persistent surveillance and reconnaissance. It was also the first winner of the AUVSI “Startup Showdown” in New Orleans in 2016, beating out 14 other competitors to take the top prize.

Davd Miller, vice president of the new Vanilla Unmanned, says, “We understand the disruptive potential of this UAS. With land-based and offshore marine traffic growing and manned assets being tasked at ever increasing levels, Vanilla Unmanned will bring a cost effective, persistent capability to our nation's defense at exactly the right time.”

Source: Press Release