Candidates for discussion, not a selection
Aircraft options
The first aircraft is modest, selected for the facility mission after the site survey, and deliberately not yet short-listed. The four long-endurance candidates from the original concept remain the reference set for the later county phase. No aircraft has been selected.
The first aircraft is modest, and chosen last
The revised plan starts with a relatively inexpensive, capable drone selected for the facility mission, not for county-wide range, and selected only after the site engineering answers the questions on the first-site page. Proposal Its priorities: a thermal camera if financially practical, useful optical zoom, good low-light performance, stable automated waypoint flight, reliable geofencing, return and land controls, wind tolerance appropriate to Pueblo West, Remote ID compliance, simple battery logistics, secure user accounts, and exportable flight logs and video. Proposal No model has been short-listed, and this page deliberately names none until the site survey exists. Open question
The long-endurance county layer, for the later phase
The aircraft below were the original concept's candidates and remain the reference set for the future remote-launch phase, if the VLOS pilot proves the concept and the county pursues it. Chinese-made aircraft are excluded. The procurement filter is the current DCMA Blue List and the particular grant's wording, not a vendor's general "NDAA compliant" statement. Verified Manufacturer numbers are not guaranteed field performance: endurance changes with payload, fuel, temperature, altitude, wind, maintenance, and reserves, and Pueblo West's elevation and summer heat make local demonstration testing important. Verified
Sources: DCMA Blue List portal · BJA UAS funding requirements · checked 2026-08-23
- Endurance
- 5 hr no payload · 2 hr with 5 kg
- Speed
- 36 mph max · 22 mph cruise
- Wind
- tested at 25+ mph
- Thermal
- long-range EO/IR options
- Weight
- 51 lb max takeoff
- FAA path
- possible Part 107 (under 55 lb)
from $49,900
manufacturer's published starting price; configured price is quote-only
- Longest published endurance at a public starting price
- Hybrid gasoline-electric; engine and fuel telemetry at the ground station
- Command handoff and long-range or LTE/mesh link options
- Under-55-lb variant preserves the simpler FAA route
- Configured price with camera and radio
- Exact DCMA-listed EO/IR combination
- Endurance at Pueblo elevation and heat
- Remote launch from a protected enclosure; noise; maintenance burden
Blue-list status: manufacturer reports Blue UAS Select. The exact aircraft, payload, radio, software, and accessory configuration must be reverified in the DCMA portal on the procurement date and accepted by the awarding agency.
Sources: skyfront.com/perimeter-8 · surveillance and security · Trillium HD45 certification · checked 2026-08-23
- Endurance
- 240 min no payload · ~100 min with 5 kg
- Speed
- 33.6 mph max
- Wind
- limit to be confirmed
- Thermal
- can carry stabilized EO/IR
- Weight
- 25 kg (55.1 lb) max takeoff
- FAA path
- keep operating weight under 55 lb, or public-aircraft route
quote required
a 2025 university comparison estimated about $40,000 base; planning estimate only, not a manufacturer quote
- Multi-hour endurance with a moderate camera payload
- Six motors; gasoline logistics may beat charging large battery fleets
- Enough payload for serious EO/IR
- Configured price
- Actual wind operating limit
- Exact Blue-listed camera and radio configuration
- The 55-lb line: exact maximum weight is slightly above it
Blue-list status: manufacturer reports Blue UAS. The exact configuration must be reverified in the DCMA portal on the procurement date and accepted by the awarding agency.
Sources: harrisaerial.com, Carrier H6 Hybrid · maintenance and support · checked 2026-08-23
- Endurance
- 74 min with ISR payload
- Speed
- 40 mph max
- Payload
- 10 lb
- Thermal
- Trillium HD40-LVV EO + LWIR option
- Dispatch
- under 3 min claimed
quote required
no public price; cannot be ranked by value until a government quote phase
- Purpose-built public-safety configuration with integrated sensor path
- Better endurance than ordinary battery multirotors
- More compact logistics than the hybrids
- Price
- Below the two-hour endurance target
- Only the public-safety configuration is relevant, not the defense functions marketed alongside it
Blue-list status: manufacturer reports Blue UAS and NDAA compliance. The exact configuration must be reverified in the DCMA portal on the procurement date and accepted by the awarding agency.
Sources: pdw.ai, C100 Public Safety · checked 2026-08-23
- Endurance
- 54 min max · 40+ min with VIO payload
- Speed
- 49 mph max
- Wind
- 19 kt sustained, 23 kt gust published
- Thermal
- VIO F1: 4K EO, 640 × 512 thermal, zoom, rangefinder
- Weight
- comfortably below 55 lb
- FAA path
- Part 107
~$25,000–$40,000 package
planning range from public listings; the camera alone lists around $13,500–$15,500 before integration
- Most affordable credible package; leaves the most budget for site, training, communications
- Fast, proven size class, real thermal and zoom
- Simplest FAA path
- Not the desired across-town endurance aircraft
- Exact grant-eligible status of the whole aircraft/payload/radio configuration
Blue-list status: manufacturer reports Blue UAS. The exact configuration must be reverified in the DCMA portal on the procurement date and accepted by the awarding agency.
Sources: inspiredflight.com/if800 · loaded endurance · full specifications · Gremsy VIO F1 documentation · checked 2026-08-23
Several other Blue or U.S.-made systems were reviewed and not advanced because they do not meet the long-endurance preference: Skydio X10, Vantage Vesper, Freefly Astro Max, Teal 2, Parrot ANAFI USA, WISPR SkyScout, Easy Aerial Osprey, Edge 130, Ghost-X, and Trace. They remain in the research report's appendix; this page does not link them because their configurations were not evaluated in detail. Verified One of them, or a similar mid-size aircraft, may well be the modest first aircraft once the site survey sets the requirements. Open question
What the aircraft must have
Required or strongly preferred: a current grant-eligible Blue List configuration; 640 × 512 thermal or better; stabilized visible-light optical zoom; live optical and thermal video to a remote public-safety operator; encrypted command, telemetry, and video links; an engineered remote link (internet/LTE/mesh), not merely a hand controller beside the drone; multirotor hover and vertical takeoff and landing; human-commanded remote launch; return-to-home; wind tolerance appropriate to Pueblo; manufacturer support; and budget room left for training, communications, enclosure, spares, and contingency. Proposal
Not required for the first pilot: compact folding size; autonomous mission selection; robotic battery charging; camera use while parked; facial recognition; weapons, payload drops, or counter-drone functions. Proposal
Ask your AI about this page
Paste this page's link into ChatGPT or Claude and ask your question in your own words. Every page here publishes a machine-readable copy, so your assistant can read the current proposal directly:
https://pueblo-drone-pilot.stoagen.com/aircraft/
Every page here has a markdown twin; this page's is https://pueblo-drone-pilot.stoagen.com/aircraft/index.md (also served with .txt appended). The whole site exists as one plain-text file at https://pueblo-drone-pilot.stoagen.com/full_site.txt, https://pueblo-drone-pilot.stoagen.com/llms.txt describes how the site is organized, and https://pueblo-drone-pilot.stoagen.com/agents/ carries the site's notes for assistants.
Published . Last updated . Times come from this page's revision history and can be checked against it.