What are two great tastes that may possibly taste great together? If you said "Yamaha Motor Company" and "Mitsubishi Heavy Industries," then get yourself a cookie, because the two have apparently been hard at work on a specific joint research project for the past couple of years. What is it? A hybrid, medium-sized unmanned aerial vehicle ('UAV,' or perhaps 'drone' if you're nasty).
As for how the cooperation breaks down, MHI is largely handling the design, manufacturing, and prototyping elements of the vehicle. Meanwhile, Yamaha is "working to develop a compact and lightweight power generating unit by combining technologies for the small, high-power engines that it has cultivated in its two- and four-wheeled vehicle engine business, with the latest electric motor technology."
While certain details are available about the project (which I'll get to in a minute), I'm going to stop right here and think out loud. A Yamaha hybrid engine project, where have I seen that recently? Oh right, I just wrote about Team Blue's first hybrid motorcycle prototype pretty recently.
Is this UAV using that powertrain? That's unclear at this point, but it certainly doesn't seem impossible. And while it might not immediately be as pulse-racingly exciting as Kawasaki's H2R UAV prototype, it only serves as further proof that we are, in fact, entering flying motorcycle territory.
Just maybe not the way anyone necessarily wanted, or expected. (Where we're going, we don't need wheels?)
Now that I've voiced that speculation above out loud, let's get to the actual details we do have, shall we? MHI and Yamaha intend this UAV project to have approximately 200 kilometers of range, and be able to carry a 200 kilogram payload. If you're squinting at those numbers right now and thinking they look familiar, that's probably because it's exactly what Kawasaki hoped to accomplish with the aforementioned H2R-powered drone that it's been working on.
(DRONE RACE! DRONE RACE! DRONE RACE! C'mon, Red Bull, you know you want to revive your Air Race series once there are a few moto-derived UAVs out flying around, doing delivery rounds!)
As for the nitty-gritty, this UAV will be about six meters long, and will be transported via truck to and from its various takeoff and landing points. A purely electric type, run on battery power, should be able to go about 15 kilometers. But the hybrid version should be able to go about 200 kilometers. In either case, the 200 kg payload is key, since this is intended to provide disaster relief in inaccessible areas, bringing supplies to hard-to-reach places.
If you'll be attending the Japan Drone Expo 2025 at the beginning of June, you'll be able to see this prototype in person at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries booth. The event is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2025, so there are likely festivities and celebrations planned.
