Aerofoundry: Aeronautics Design House

Aerofoundry is specialized in the design, manufacture, and integration of innovative uncrewed aerial systems (UAS).

Our advanced platforms are designed following a multidisciplinary method, attaining the best aerodynamic and structural efficiency for the conceptual predefined constraints. We offer performance, fuel efficiency, easier payload integration, flexible operation, and cost-efficient maintenance and support.

Our aeronautics products strategy is based on a wide portfolio of airframe platforms, known as Open Aircraft Frameworks (OAF), upon which we are able to integrate avionics, systems and payload packages to address the specifications put forward by our most demanding customers.

By tightly working with our customers from the early assessment of their operational requirements, we are able to integrate cost-effective and targeted solutions. In most cases, though, we are able to supply off-the-shelve solutions, already extensively validated against the most extreme flight envelope scenarios.

In the same way that we work for final users delivering ready-to-fly solutions, we also work for systems & payload integrators alike. We supply ready-to-fly aircraft for them to integrate their own systems and payload configurations (where we certify the integration’s safety, giving warranty to the aircraft with that payload). Look at our Engineering Services to find out more.

Our advanced platforms are designed following a multidisciplinary method, attaining the best aerodynamic and structural efficiency for the conceptual predefined constraints. We offer performance, fuel efficiency, easier payload integration, flexible operation, and cost-efficient maintenance and support.

Our advanced design environment is integrated with a state-of-the-art prototyping lab, and an advanced composites manufacturing infrastructure, ensuring that our aircraft are produced following the highest standards, in a timely manner.

Just talk to us and see how we can help you in your endeavor...

Dr. Daniel Dupré, CEO

About Us

Aerofoundry is a private company founded in Brazil in 2008, with more than 60 years of accumulated experience in aerial operations, including aerial surveying (photogrammetry, spectrometry, Lidar, Radar, magnetometry, gamma radiation remote sensing, video EO/IR surveillance, and aerial logistics. Since then, we have moved away from Brazil and expanded to seven countries, distributed in four continents, with customers worldwide.

As an aeronautics company, our first UAS was an adapted manned aircraft with a 12m wingspan, for our own use.  Then we moved on to our own designs, producing several UAS of different sizes, and applications.

Since 2014, we have evolved into an aeronautics designer of mostly military aircraft, producing a range of aerial platforms, now offered through our Homeland Security Solutions site.

Since our foundation, we have developed a strong design and manufacturing infrastructure, able to produce, not only ready-to-fly integrated aircraft solutions, but also design and/or customize new airframes to address special needs, be it because of size, weight, or flight parameters requirements by a particular payload, or because of unusual flight envelop specifications, for a particular payload.

Our multidisciplinary aeronautics engineering team uses an advanced collaborative design environment, including concept modeling, designing, structural and aerodynamic analysis, simulation, manufacturing infrastructure setup, and testing and validation. All stages are structured in one smooth workflow, with efficiency and predictability.

Our Services

Open Aircraft Frameworks

Aerofoundry offers a portfolio of airframes designed as Open Aircraft Frameworks (OAF) capable of carrying varied payload configurations. Our aircraft are designed to be customized to our customer's requirements.

Our portfolio includes varied platforms to address the most demanding customers, and our Engineering Department can integrate your selected payload, or we can support your payload integration work, including testing and validation, as detalied on our Engineering Services page.

Several off-the-shelve standard implementations are available with payload already validated by our engineers, addressing the most frequent applications. You can also find their military implementations in our Homeland Security Solutions site.

Contract Design & Manufacturing

We can work for you as:

  1. Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM),
  2. Contract Manufacturer (CM) or set up your own Manufacturing Infrastructure (MIS), to produce our airframes for yourself. In this case, we can even discuss the Transfer of Technology (ToT), for which several alternatives exist.
  3. Original Design Manufacturer (ODM), designing new airframes from scratch, following your specifications, and manufacture them for you.

Aircraft Models

Hewë-e

Hewë (vampire in Yanomami language) is an electric tail-sitter carried in a backpack with vertical takeoff and landing, and automatic to cruise flight.

This is a unipersonal, ultraportable VTOL platform with a 1-hour endurance, for rapid deployment in highly movable operations, or for fast surveying.

Hëwe is controlled from an Android handheld touchscreen GCS.

Watupá-e

Watupá-e (Vulture in Yanomami language) is a resilient small electric aircraft, light enough to be hand launched, but able to perform high-endurance tactical missions ( ±5 hours), and long-range, wide-area aerial surveys, withstanding adverse weather conditions.

Manufactured since 2014, Watupá-e 2022 is now a fully Mil compliant version, with a new Kevlar reinforced highly rugged, resilient airframe, with very low detection signature, and a new optional low-noise engine with a quasi-stealth propeller (patent pending).

Köpari

Köpari is a high-end Class I aircraft, designed as a rugged and resilient light-weight UAS for long-range missions.

Manufactured since 2016, Köpari is a state-of-the-art unmanned aerial solution designed following Mil specifications, and steady, stable flight, as required for tactical ISR operations or wide-area aerial surveying (photogrammetry, Lidar profiling, spectrometry).

Yaró

Yaró (Harpy in Yanomami language) is our top-of-the-line, rugged and reliable aerial platform, proven in extreme operational environments since 2011.

This platform evolved into this new 150kg (330lbs) iteration configured as a light tactical (Class II) version, for fast, long-endurance missions carrying complex payload configurations.

Yaró 150 was designed for the US market, tightly following NATO STANAG 4703/AEP-83 standard, with an export-free version, for worldwide customers.

Texo

Texo (Hummingbird in Yanomami language) is a cutting-edge tandem, tilt-wing vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) with a hybrid-electric powerplant.

This Design Program started in early 2018, arriving to its airframe stable version in late 2021, and the commercial version for civilian applications in December 2022. The ISTAR/ISR version for law enforcement will be ready by June 2023.

The tandem tilt-wing configuration enables this platform to vertical take-off and land on moving platforms; has fixed-wing cruise speed, stability and efficiency; and optional in-flight hoovering capabilities.

This aircraft concept is optimized for operationally complex missions, where aircraft logistics are constrained, hovering is sometimes required, and payload distribution could affect position of center of gravity, as is the case of cargo hauling.