Droneliner Designed For Shipping Containers.

In transporting logistics, most cargo is transported by ships as they can carry significantly heavier container loads at a very low cost. However, sea freight takes weeks to deliver the cargo. Shipping ports are getting busier and more congested as container ships grow in number and size.

Airlines can deliver cargo within just a few days. Still, air freight is the most expensive due to the limited payload, the amount and cost of fuel used, the complexities of the loading and unloading process, and the crew payroll.

To overcome these problems, UK-based aviation company Droneliner has announced its cargo aircrafts that will change air freight with crewless and more cargo-friendly aircraft bodies.

Droneliner's designs for the carbonfibre aircraft feature a basket of new and emerging technologies including ultra-high-bypass wide-body engines, truss-braced wings, electrically-driven landing gear and a roll-on/roll-off cargo bay.

The proposed cargo drones can carry up to 80 standard lightweight 20-foot shipping containers using “hybrid turbofan” engines that can use sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and hydrogen.

Two variants of the Droneliner are under development: the single-engined, 200t-payload DL200 and the larger 350t-payload DL350 twinjet.

They will have the respective maximum take-off weights of around 350t and 600t - roughly in line with the Boeing 777 Freighter and Antonov An-225. Both aircraft have a full range of 12038 kilometers.

The drones are remotely piloted rather than autonomous. The lack of crew and accommodations for them saves a substantial amount of money.

Droneliner can reduce the cost of airfreight by more than 70% and bring it down to levels comparable to sea freight. Although the cost of ground infrastructure might be high to handle the massive airframes.

According to Droneliner, current aircrafts are designed to carry passengers as well. Because of its domed roof design, it’s nearly impossible to utilize all the space in hold. Also, shipping containers won’t fit in round-sided fuselages.

Droneliner aircrafts can be used for various purposes such as military and civilian containerized intermodal freight, air-to-air refueling, military airdrop and disaster relief.

However, there are formidable regulatory challenges to overcome if an uncrewed cargo aircraft of this size is to be brought into service, not to mention the billions of dollars it will take to develop the clean-sheet jets.