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British drone manufacturer Windracers has augmented the range of its dual-use heavy-lift Ultra Mk2 product, which will soon be configured to fly up to 2,000 kilometers (1,080 nm) with a 200-kilogram (440 pounds) payload. The uncrewed aircraft is already capable of carrying in excess of 100 kilograms over 2,000 kilometers, and the company said the incremental payload upgrade—set to become available in the coming months—expands both civil and defense use cases.
Windracers has previously described its current Mk2 iteration of the drone, unveiled in January 2025, as the “most accomplished low-cost heavy-lift, long-distance cargo drone available today.” The 10-meter-wingspan aircraft is powered by a pair of 50-horsepower Hirth F23 piston engines, this 10m wingspan aircraft already offers what Windracers calls a “significantly enhanced” useful payload while halving fuel costs per kg.
The Ultra Mk2 has been used in a variety of civilian and defense applications to date, including middle-mile air cargo, humanitarian missions and environmental research. Alongside flight trials in austere locations such as Antarctica, the drone has also conducted reconnaissance and resupply missions during real-world operational use in the Ukraine conflict.
Windracers is to scale its manufacturing facilities and processes to build what it says will be “hundreds” of Ultra drones over the next two years. In October 2025, the company opened an expanded factory in Hampshire.