U.S based multinational conglomerate Honeywell International Inc. (HON) announced that it had launched unmanned aerial system business one which includes autonomous drones and autonomous air taxis.
Under the new business wing, also includes unmanned cargo delivery vehicles as it seeks to grab a large market share in the autonomous aviation sector.
The company does not manufacture drones by itself but rather provides autonomous flight controls systems and aviation electronics.
The new business unit will be headed by Stéphane Fymat, who said they expect the hardware and software market for drone cargo delivery, urban air taxis and other drone businesses to reach $120 billion by 2030.
The company’s current market share is 20%, however, Fymat declined to disclose how much market share is the company intending to capture by 2030. Nonetheless, the head of the new unit pointed out that the unit had hundreds of employees among them engineers.
Among Honeywell’s partners include Intel Corp. (INTC) backed Volocopter, small aircraft manufacturer Pipistrel and UK-based Vertical Aerospace.
Last year, Vertical Aerospace conducted test fly of a prototype vehicle with a carrying capacity of 250 kilograms while flying at 80 kilometres per hour.
On the other hand, Slovenia based Pipistrel is developing an electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft for cargo delivery.
“We’re not trying to bet on who’s going to have the best drone. We want to sell to everyone’s drones,” said Murray Grainger, head of Honeywell Ventures.
