ERC Unveils Victor Hybrid-electric VTOL Cargo Drone

ERC System has unveiled the first full-size example of its Victor U250 hybrid-electric cargo drone. Revealing a full-scale mock-up at the ILA 2026 air show in Berlin on Wednesday, the German start-up said it aims to be ready to start delivering the 250-kilogram-payload (550 pounds) model in 2028, with military resupply and commercial logistics deliveries expected to be the main applications.

The company said it aims to start flight testing the first Victor prototype during the third quarter of this year. Additional aircraft could join the flight test program in 2027 as it works towards approval under EASA's Specific Operations Risk Assessment (SORA) process.

The new lift-and-cruise design is a smaller version of the Romeo eVTOL that ERC started flight testing in November 2025. This aircraft has a payload of 500 kilograms and a range of around 800 kilometers (432 nm).

ERC's engineering team has submitted an application for a Design Verification Report as part of the SAIL IV stage of the European regulator's SORA path to market. Romeo has already been flown under the SAIL III stage of SORA requirements.

The company, which is based near Munich, said the Victor will be able to fly up to 300 kilometers at a cruise speed of 250 kilometers per hour (135 knots). The company said the new model takes off and lands vertically while using its small wings in cruise mode to operate at higher speeds and range than multicopter VTOLs.

“Over the past 18 months, we were repeatedly approached by military and civilian operators and asked to apply our experience from building Romeo, the European Union’s heaviest uncrewed eVTOL, towards a heavy-lift cargo drone,” said ERC chief commercial officer Maximilian Oligschläger. “We have applied our technical learnings from the ongoing, crewed Charlie program and combined them with deep operator insights.”

In addition to filling gaps in military logistics operations, ERC said it is also working with prospective customers who showed interest in the Charlie model's crewed applications. The company has not disclosed its current roster of suppliers but Oligschläger told AIN it expects to announce strategic supply chain partnerships in the coming months.

Filling a Defense Logistics Gap

According to ERC, military leaders are lacking a platform that can move “meaningful payloads over distances and at the speed needed to adequately support forward military units.” By accessing areas with limited infrastructure, the company believes the Victor will provide a viable alternative when ground transportation is blocked and crew air transport is considered to be too high-risk.

Victor has an eight-meter (26-foot) wingspan and will be transportable in a standard 20-foot container. The aircraft features a front-loading modular payload system.

ERC said it will start flight-testing the first prototype in the second half of this year. The company, which was founded in 2020 and has a team of around 60 people, has financial backing from Germany’s IABG aerospace group.

The piloted Charlie hybrid-electric VTOL model is intended for missions such as emergency medical flights. ERC has a partnership with German air ambulance operator DRF Luftrettung to develop an alternative to a helicopter for these missions.