Guardian Agriculture receives FAA approval for its Guardian SC1 eVTOL in US
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Guardian Agriculture, the leading developer of Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) systems for commercial-scale sustainable farming, has received approval from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to operate its aircraft nationwide.
This FAA approval positions Guardian Agriculture as the first commercially authorized eVTOL in the U.S., allowing it to operate its systems safely and marking a significant milestone for the eVTOL space.
The company will begin commercial operations with the support of precision agriculture technology and product provider Wilbur-Ellis in California in the coming months as it continues to ramp up its production capacity.
The approval also positions Guardian Agriculture as the first to address the fast-growing agricultural use case, with commercial farmers rapidly moving away from ground spraying equipment in favor of unmanned autonomous systems. However, most available systems are too small to provide growers with full-field coverage at a competitive price point.
Guardian Agriculture is now the only U.S. company to offer a viable solution - with an eVTOL size that delivers the same comprehensive coverage as traditional aerial crop dusting and ground spraying equipment, at the same or lower costs, all with digital precision.
"eVTOL powered crop protection is better for crops, better for the environment, and better for growers' bottom line," Guardian Agriculture Founder and CEO Adam Bercu said. "We designed our system to meet the needs of commercial agriculture. Solving this real-world pain point is the right first step for eVTOL adoption at large. FAA approval represents an important turning point for American leadership in this fast-growing market."
The Guardian SC1 platform - which already has more than $100 million in customer orders - is the only autonomous, electric, aerial crop protection system designed specifically for large-scale agriculture. Guardian designs and manufactures its system entirely within the U.S., supporting U.S. competitiveness, jobs, and ensuring national security.
"Aerial crop protection systems have operated the same way for decades," Wilbur-Ellis Vice President of Supplier Relations Willie Negroni said. "With the recent approval from the FAA, Guardian Agriculture is uniquely positioned to change the face of farming for the better. For the first time, we now have a reliable, cost-effective, and sustainable solution in the form of the Guardian SC1. We are so confident in the technology and the Guardian team that we are not only a customer, but also an investor."
The Guardian SC1 precisely and safely delivers the application of crop protection in a fraction of the time and cost. With four six-foot propellers and a 15-foot aircraft width, the SC1 efficiently covers 40 acres per hour of full-field crop protection to the grower. Combining an autonomous aircraft, a ground station supercharger, and software generating domestically stored data, the Guardian SC1 offers an on-target application to fields when and where necessary.
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