Boeing unveils unmanned drone that can carry 500 pounds

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A prototype of an electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing unmanned cargo aerial vehicle (CAV) was unveiled by Boeing on Wednesday with the goal of “shaping 21st century autonomous air travel and transport.”

Designed and built within three months, the prototype is outfitted with eight counter-rotating propeller blades. It is four feet (1.2-meter) in height, measures 15 by 18 feet (4.6 by 5.5 meters), and has a weight of more than 700 pounds (315.5 kilograms).

With a carrying capacity of up to 500 pounds (226.8 kilograms), the CAV could deliver extra-heavy goods and even transport passengers.

Gif via Boeing

Battery life is normally of most concern when it comes to drones, however, the aerospace giant didn’t provide any information regarding the drone’s flying range.

“The goal is to grow into a large-scale cargo platform,” David Neely of Boeing Research & Technology said in a video on the company’s website.

“If you extend the range and you extend the payload a little bit … you can change the way the world connects, you can change the way we deliver goods,” he added.