Alphabet’s Wing supersizes delivery drones to ‘streamline’ big orders

Wing, the drone-powered delivery company operated by Alphabet, intends to introduce a larger craft capable of towing heavier packages to customers.

The announcement follows Walmart’s move to expand its drone delivery offering in Dallas-Fort Worth. The retail behemoth said last week that three quarters of the items in its larger Supercenter stores “meet the size and weight requirements for drone delivery.” It’s no wonder Wing is working to upgrade its stock; Wing is one of the two drone firms facilitating Walmart’s drone delivery effort, alongside Zipline.

Wing’s current drones can only handle 2.5-pound deliveries. The larger drones, which still require approval from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, will handle “up to 5 pounds in a standard cardboard box,” Wing told TechCrunch. Wing aims to bring the supersized craft to market in the next year.  Expanding the fleet was apparently always the plan.

“It’s always been our vision to implement a multi-modal drone delivery model,” a spokesperson for the firm said. “We are currently focused on launching the new plane and our Aircraft Library design philosophy enables us to test and build new drones based on customer and partner need.”