SAMAD Aerospace has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) agreement with Aerosud Aviation for the development and manufacturing of its fully electric vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) Starling Cargo aircraft.

Aerosud Aviation is a South African aerospace engineering company specializing in commercial aerostructure part design and manufacturing for international Tier 1 suppliers.

The Starling Cargo aircraft will be remotely piloted with auto pilot capability. It will have a cruising speed of 83kts, flight ceiling of 10,000ft and a range up to 117nm. The electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft will enable flexible point to point air cargo up to 60kg payload.

Dr. Seyed Mohseni, CEO of SAMAD Aerospace, commented, “We look forward to working with Aerosud Aviation to bring our eVTOL Starling Cargo aircraft to market for delivery during the next couple of years. The Starling Cargo aircraft will make air cargo faster, greener, and more sustainable.”

Rob Jonkers, Director of Programs at Aerosud Aviation, added, “We look forward to working with SAMAD Aerospace to bring to market this unique Starling Cargo eVTOL, which has particular advantages in the South African and African context given sparse infrastructure to move cargo at medium to long distance at speed. The flexibility of Starling Cargo operations will bring a new dimension to delivery turnaround times country and continent wide.”

The SAMAD Aerospace team have seen interest in its Starling Cargo aircraft from several industry sectors that need to transit high value cargo. These include oil and gas corporations, gemstone mining companies, medical logistics, and emergency response companies.

The Starling Cargo aircraft will also be used to deliver humanitarian critical cargo of food, medicine, and equipment to often remote regions of the world with underdeveloped or damaged local infrastructure.

SAMAD Aerospace has built and tested multiple prototypes of its eVTOL aircraft.