SiFly, a Santa Clara-based drone company focused on long-endurance, heavy-lift, and NDAA-compliant drones for industrial and public safety applications, recently exited stealth mode and announced two new models this week: the Q12 and Q250.
The Q12 is an all-electric drone that can hover for 2 hours, fly forward for up to 3 hours, and travel 90 miles while carrying a 10-pound load. It’s built for Beyond Visual Line-of-Sight (BVLOS) tasks like checking infrastructure, mapping, or Drone-as-First-Responder (DFR) programs, with a claimed 90% cost cut per square mile for DFR work.
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The Q250 is a heavy-duty drone that can lift 200-pound loads for 100 minutes, aimed at jobs like logistics, putting out fires, or spraying crops, possibly taking over from expensive helicopters. Both drones meet NDAA rules, making them okay for U.S. government use, and they’re priced to compete with Chinese-made drones.
SiFly’s tech includes cloud-connected AI for real-time info and quiet operation (almost silent at 100 meters), which is perfect for city settings. They’ve tested the Q12 with partners like Amaral Ranches in California for farming insights and are showing it off to public and private groups. The company, started by Brian Hinman (formerly of Polycom), focuses on performance, low cost, and self-flying features, but some doubt their ability to ramp up production or completely avoid Chinese parts for cameras or batteries. Still, with U.S. bans on DJI drones possibly coming in the near future, their timing seems smart.
Commercial drones have long forced organizations to compromise between flight duration, payload capacity, and operational range. We eliminated those trade-offs. SiFly drones are transforming emergency response, infrastructure inspection, and logistics—delivering helicopter-class performance at drone economics,” said Brian Hinman, Founder and CEO of SiFly.
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