Northwest UAV’s NW-44 Engine expands market reach as orders are placed for the turn key propulsion system by a major OEM
With over 1000 combat flight hours logged, purchase orders and deployments of Northwest UAV’s ingeniously designed NW-44 multi-fuel single-cylinder UAV engine have accelerated as of January 2018. The NW-44 engine fills an urgent need for an efficient UAV engine that performs reliably in extreme conditions and is combat proven. The NW-44’s design substantially reduces the costs and timeline associated with developing an engine from scratch – while requiring little to no up-front development costs for the end customer.
McMinnville, OR: From initial design through development and manufacturing, Northwest UAV created the NW-44 multi-fuel single-cylinder UAV engine to fill a gap that owner and president Chris Harris recognized in the market – reliable, fuel-efficient engines for small, professional-grade UAVs. As a proven engine with over 1000 combat flight hours logged, the NW-44 multi-fuel engine has already significantly expanded market reach since January of this year, with large purchase orders being made to support Tier 2 UAVs. This increased demand for the NW-44 engine has spurred other changes and growth at Northwest UAV as well as additional staff and another 30,000 sq/ft of production space.
“Our NW-44 engine has been designed and developed to solve a very specific problem – reliably support UAVs in the 40-75 pound weight class attempting to fly 12 hours or more in extreme weather conditions. Without the NW-44 engine, these small UAVs were either flying fingers-crossed with hobby-grade engines with carburettors or heavily modifying engines built for other applications to try to meet their flight needs. Neither of these options guarantees a reliable engine and the latter option can be extremely expensive to design, develop and manufacture. Considering that many of the professional UAVs in the 40-75 pound weight class are used for defence and supporting police, fire and law enforcement bureaus, a cost-effective, reliable, efficient engine solution is absolutely paramount to the work they’re doing,” explained Chris Harris, President and Owner of NWUAV. “With the NW-44 multi-fuel engine, these smaller UAVs now have a plug-n-play option built specifically for the long flight hours and extreme conditions they’re flying in. This recently increased adoption of the NW-44 engine across Tier 2 UAVs simply demonstrates the real need for this engine in the professional UAS (unmanned aerial systems) market.”
The increased demand for the NW-44 single-cylinder multi-fuel engine has meant more than just increased manufacturing on the Northwest UAV campus. With a few other large projects in the works, Northwest UAV has grown to over 100 full-time employees and has begun the process of adding new production facilities to their campus, expanding on the 28,000 square feet of building space they already have.
“I remember when we were purchasing our current property. Chris and I would place bets on how long it would take us to fill up that much space,” remarked Northwest UAV Director Heather Sorenson. “Now look at us – we are adding another 30,000 sq. feet to our campus and hiring additional staff to fill roles in all areas of the company, from the production floor to engineering services and everywhere in between. Much of that growth is in support of the manufacturing of the NW-44 propulsion system that we designed right here in McMinnville, and the continued development of our twin-cylinder NW-88! Regardless of how much we grow, we’ve remained grounded in our family-friendly company culture, a perk of living and working in this amazing rural community. It brings us a lot of pride to say we’re creating cutting-edge technology like the NW-44 engine right here in McMinnville.”
About Northwest UAV
As America’s leader in UAV propulsion system design and manufacturing, Northwest UAV (NWUAV) continues to prove its reputation for reliable, cost-effective and innovative UAV engines and support systems through meticulous engineering, testing, and manufacturing. Founded in 2005 by President and Owner Chris Harris, NWUAV continues to safely and effectively manage all aspects of product development, from initial concept design through production and beyond to maintenance and overhauls. When reliability is key, count on the team at NWUAV. AS9100/ISO9001 (AS9104-1) Certified, DCAA compliant operation.
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