Spain’s Alpha Security and Defense targets US market with Alpha 800

29 Oct 2019

A Spanish unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) manufacturer is laying the groundwork for offering its Alpha 800 rotary-wing UAV to the US market.

Eric Freeman, Alpha Security and Defense CEO, told Jane’s on 16 October that the company will likely establish a US entity in the next four months and will hopefully have an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) established in the US as well. He declined to say if there were any Pentagon procurement opportunities the company was pursuing.

“We are trying to find the correct distribution channels in the US,” Freeman said. “These are important steps for us as a company based in Europe and it is something that will open up the US market.”

The Alpha 800 is a 14 kg single-rotor gasoline-powered vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) mini-UAV. The aircraft features up to three hours endurance and up to 50 km of range with a payload capacity of 3 kg. It also operates in Global Positioning System (GPS)-denied environments.