Palladyne AI and Orkid Tech Partner to Bring Swarm Autonomy Software to Fixed-Wing VTOL UAVs

Palladyne AI and Orkid Tech partnered to integrate Palladyne's Pilot and SwarmOS autonomy software with Orkid's NDAA-compliant fixed-wing VTOL UAVs for defense and industrial customers.

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Industry impact

The tie-up extends swarm-autonomy software beyond rotary platforms to fixed-wing VTOL drones, signaling growing demand for single-pilot multi-aircraft control across defense and industrial UAV markets.

Palladyne AI Corp. and Orkid Tech have announced a partnership to integrate Palladyne AI's Pilot and SwarmOS autonomy software with Orkid's NDAA-compliant fixed-wing VTOL unmanned aerial vehicles, targeting U.S. defense customers as well as commercial industrial markets such as oil and gas, power, wildfire management, and public safety. Orkid's aircraft take off and land without a runway, deploy in minutes, and carry modular payloads including electro-optical/infrared, LiDAR, and mapping sensors; adding Palladyne's software is designed to enable real-time autonomous decision-making instead of waypoint following, letting a single pilot operate a multi-aircraft swarm with reduced cognitive load.

The partnership marks the first time Palladyne AI's SwarmOS has been applied to fixed-wing aircraft, and the companies said they recently completed a joint field exercise demonstrating SwarmOS in real-world conditions with soldiers. Ben Wolff, President and CEO of Palladyne AI, said the deal brings SwarmOS to a proven, fielded platform, while Santiago Pinzon, CEO and co-founder of Orkid Tech, said his company evaluated multiple autonomy options before selecting Palladyne AI after the joint field exercise. Orkid Tech is headquartered in Orlando, Florida, and manufactures long-range, NDAA-compliant fixed-wing VTOL aircraft for defense, public safety, and commercial applications, while Palladyne AI is a U.S.-based defense and industrial technology company listed on the Nasdaq.