Dubai-based Eanan is flying its R-12 small cargo drone.
Dubai-based startup Eanan has announced plans to develop uncrewed aircraft in the UAE, including heavy cargo and passenger electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) advanced air mobility aircraft.
The company plans to build a range of multicopter and flying-wing autonomous eVTOL aircraft in a production facility at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Aerospace Hub in the Dubai South development zone adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport.
Founded earlier this year, Eanan will debut its S-120 and S-700 heavy cargo UAVs at the Dubai Airshow on Nov 13-17. The S-120 is a quadcopter cargo UAV designed to carry a 50-kg (110-lb.) payload 30 km (19 mi.) at 60 kph (37 mph).
With a maximum takeoff weight of 700 kg, the S-70 is a larger multicopter eVTOL with a 200-kg payload. The vehicle has eight pairs of coaxial rotors, four on arms attached to the lower fuselage and four on arms mounted on top of the body.
Eanan’s website also shows a concept for an air-taxi version of the S-70, designed to fly two people up to 150 km at 100 kph. The site also shows the R-700 concept for a two-person flying-wing eVTOL, an evolution of the startup’s R-12 small cargo drone.
With six coaxial pairs of rotors on arms attached to the flying-wing fuselage, two of which tilt to provide propulsion in cruise, the R-700 is designed to fly up to 100 km at 220 kph. The 12-kg R-12 drone is designed to carry a 1.5-kg on flights up to 3 hr.
Eanan’s website says the startup is the result of a partnership between “a renowned European aircraft engineering school” and Emirati entrepreneurial stakeholders. According to Linkedin, both Eanan’s CEO Ulrich Weckx and Chief Technology Officer Peter Reynaert previously worked at Belgian aerospace manufacturer Sabca.
