PHOTO COURTESY OF GUARDIAN AGRICULTURE
FAA approval allows Guardian Agriculture to begin safely operating its fully autonomous, electric, American-made aircraft in the U.S.; leading the way in a $5.7 billion aerial crop protection market.
The Guardian SC1 can carry 200-pound payloads with several options for application spray volumes. The equipment has four six-foot propellers, is 15 feet wide, and can cover 40 acres/hour. According to Guardian, the charge time of the drone is similar to the time it takes to fuel a pickup truck. Systems start at $119k, with deliveries beginning in late 2023.
The SC1 will be deployed in California, starting with specialty crops in the San Joaquin Valley, through the partnership of Guardian Agriculture and Wilbur-Ellis. Upon the announcement of FAA's approval, Willie Negroni, Wilbur-Ellis vice president of supplier relations, stated in a media release that 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 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. An important feature to note, Guardian designs and manufactures its system entirely within the U.S., supporting U.S. competitiveness, jobs, further and ensures national security.
