Alphabet’s Wing supersizes delivery drones to handle big orders

Wing, the drone-powered delivery company operated by Alphabet, intends to introduce a larger craft capable of towing heavier packages to customers.

The news comes on the heels of Walmart’s decision to expand its drone deliveries in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. It’s no wonder Wing is working to upgrade its stock; The outfit is one of the two firms facilitating Walmart’s drone delivery effort, alongside Zipline; Walmart said just last week that a quarter of the items in its larger Supercenter stores don’t meet the size and weight requirements for delivery by drone.

Wing’s current drones can handle deliveries weighing up to a modest 2.5 pounds. The larger drones, which await approval from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, will handle “up to 5 pounds in a standard cardboard box,” Wing told TechCrunch.

Wing aims to bring the supersized craft to market in the next year.

“It’s always been our vision to implement a multi-modal drone delivery model,” a spokesperson for the firm said. “We are currently focused on launching the new plane and our Aircraft Library design philosophy enables us to test and build new drones based on customer and partner need.”