Volatus Aerospace announces drone innovation, full order books at Rheinmetall and Hensoldt

Roland Berger: Unique window of opportunity in armaments

Growing security pressures are leading to a significant increase in defense spending by NATO countries. With its "Strategic Compass," the EU Council had already planned a major package of up to EUR 800 billion in additional funding for security and armaments in 2022, followed by Further packages and announcements. In North America, Canada is accelerating its rearmament and aims to spend 5% of its GDP on defense in the medium term. Current NATO policies particularly promote dual-use technologies, encouraging greater use of civilian innovations for military purposes. In this context, drones are gaining in importance: market studies, such as those by Market & Markets, predicted a global volume of over USD 58 billion in 2021. Growth is driven by applications in security and related services, as well as in specific defense applications. This creates substantial opportunities for established defense companies such as Rheinmetall and Hensoldt, and for innovative newcomers like Volatus Aerospace. Roland Berger consultants even describe this as "a unique window of opportunity" in the defense sector.

Volatus Aerospace acquires and expands manufacturing

While major defense contractors have already captured large portions of the market available to date, a demand for drones is only gradually emerging. The Canadian company Volatus Aerospace has many years of experience in the civil sector. For years, the drone professionals focused on transport drones and the surveillance of infrastructure and borders. However, several quarters ago, Volatus also achieved notable success in the military sector - orders from NATO countries brought the stock to the attention of defense investors. Now Volatus has taken another significant step forward: The Company is acquiring drone technology from the British company Caliburn Holdings, taking on the employees entrusted with it and setting up its own production facility in Canada. The three scalable fixed-wing drones score points with dual-use functionality, as desired by NATO, payloads between 15 and 50 kg, and a flight time between 12 hours and 7 days. Areas of application include border protection, surveillance of Arctic or maritime regions, and critical infrastructure. Manufacturing, integration, and testing of the new unmanned aerial vehicles will take place at the new Mirabel Innovation & Drone Manufacturing Facility in Québec, Canada.

Drones made in Canada – Supply chain ready

The planned manufacturing hub will enable the serial production of drones for the Canadian military and allied markets, covering all Volatus platforms. This positions Volatus to meet critical requirements, including scalable production, local value creation, and interoperability with existing NATO standards. The decision to establish a central manufacturing facility is also good news for Canada itself: it creates jobs and reduces dependence on imports in strategic industries.

With the acquisition of drone technology and the expansion of its production facility, Volatus Aerospace is making the decisive transition from drone service provider to system manufacturer. The Company is thus targeting a segment that is significant in terms of security policy and positioning itself as a future supplier of specialized drone technology. The long flight times of the newly acquired drones are particularly noteworthy: security experts repeatedly point out the importance of monitoring oceans and remote regions such as the Arctic. Drones with long flight times are suitable for detecting acoustic and visual signals, for example, and can thus be used in combination to monitor even large areas.

Volatus keeps pace with its shares

While traditional defense companies such as Rheinmetall and Hensoldt boast billions in sales and full order books, Volatus offers investors an exciting niche investment. The Company scores with years of expertise and experience in the field of regulatory affairs. The latter is particularly important in the NATO environment, where different national armies have to be coordinated. Volatus Aerospace is currently valued at EUR 255 million. After a rapid rise in the summer, the share price is consolidating. The latest company announcement shows that Volatus is keeping pace with its share price in operational terms. Volatus Aerospace is an exciting second-tier defense stock that is consistently good for dynamic price movements and can therefore outperform even established defense stalwarts such as Rheinmetall and Hensoldt.