Delair
A Toulouse start-up that won France’s first beyond-line-of-sight drone certificate for surveying pipelines now builds UX11 drones for the war in Ukraine.
Delair: the company and the aircraft that made its name
Out of sight, legally
Delair was founded in Toulouse in 2011 by four engineers, Michaël de Lagarde, Benjamin Benharrosh, Benjamin Michel and Bastien Mancini, to build fixed-wing drones for industry. Its first product, the DT18 of 2012, earned the company a distinction that mattered enormously to its customers: it became the first UAV certified in France to fly beyond visual line of sight. For a railway operator or a power company that wanted long linear assets surveyed from the air, a drone that could legally keep flying after the pilot lost sight of it was the whole point.
Buying up the competition
The company grew by acquisition as well as by design. In 2016 it bought Gatewing, the Belgian maker of mapping drones, from Trimble, and in 2018 it took over the assets of the American drone software firm Airware, which brought with it the French data-mining company Redbird. The same year Intel invested in Delair and built its technology into the Intel Insights drone platform, and the World Economic Forum named Delair a Technology Pioneer. Offices followed in Singapore, Beijing, Los Angeles, Paris and Ghent.
From survey work to the front line
Then the war in Ukraine gave a civil survey company a military future. In 2023 Delair supplied 150 drones to Kyiv, and in 2024 France announced an order for 2,000 UX11 drones in the Colibri configuration, a loitering-munition role, with 100 of them destined for the Ukrainian front. The UX11 itself is small: it can be ready to fly in about five minutes and carries a payload of up to 500 grams. With around 120 employees, Delair remains a modest firm, but one now caught up in Europe’s drone rearmament.
Delair in numbers
The company
- In short
- Founded 2011
- Founded in Toulouse by four engineers
- Bought Gatewing from Trimble, 2016
- Took over Airware assets, 2018
- About 120 employees
Production
- Best known for
- DT18, UX11
- DT18: first BVLOS-certified UAV in France, 2012
- UX11 mapping drone; Colibri version for loitering-munition use
Today
- Now
- Supplying Ukraine
- 150 drones delivered to Kyiv, 2023
- French order for 2,000 UX11 Colibri, 2024
The numbers
- Employees
- about 120
- Drones supplied to Ukraine
- 1502023
- UX11 Colibri ordered by France
- 2,0002024
Every notable Delair aircraft
| Aircraft | Role | First flight | Built | Status | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delair DT18 | Fixed-wing survey UAV | First UAV certified in France for beyond visual line of sight flight | |||
| Delair UX11 | Fixed-wing mapping UAV | In production | Ready in about five minutes; payload up to 500 g | ||
| Delair UX11 Colibri | Loitering munition | In production | 2,000 ordered by France in 2024, 100 for Ukraine |
Delair aircraft in the world’s air forces
1 air forces in the Order of Battle fly or flew Delair types. 1 of them still have one in service.
| Air force | In service | Formerly flown |
|---|---|---|
| Air Force of Ivory Coast | Delair DT-26 |
Where Delair built, who led it, what it achieved
Factories
- Toulouse headquarters · Toulouse, Occitanie — Design and production base
Records and firsts
- DT18 was the first UAV certified in France for beyond visual line of sight operation, 2012
Delair, year by year
Delair founded in Toulouse
DT18 becomes first BVLOS-certified UAV in France
Gatewing acquired from Trimble
Airware assets and Redbird acquired; Intel invests
Named a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer
Stampede named US distributor for the UX11
150 drones supplied to Ukraine
France orders 2,000 UX11 Colibri, 100 for Ukraine
Everything people ask about Delair
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Around Delair