Vision Aerial
Vision Aerial is a Montana-based American drone manufacturer founded in 2013 that designs and builds NDAA-compliant UAV platforms and field-swappable payloads for defense, government, energy, public safety, and critical infrastructure customers in the United States.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2013
- HeadquartersBozeman, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Vision Aerial does
Vision Aerial is a Montana-based American drone manufacturer founded in 2013 that designs, builds, and sells NDAA-compliant unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platforms and modular payloads for defense, government, energy, public safety, agriculture, and critical infrastructure customers in the United States. The company's product portfolio includes the SwitchBlade-Elite tricopter, Vector hexacopter, and Vulcan platform (Vulcan SX medium-lift tricopter and Vulcan YX heavy-lift multimodal hexacopter), featuring integrated dual-band L1/L5 RTK GNSS, onboard edge computing, IP54 rain rating, and a proprietary field-swappable Payload Connection System that supports optical cameras (Sony ILX-LR1, a6400, RX1R ii), thermal sensors (FLIR Hadron 640R, Workswell Wiris Pro/Enterprise), LiDAR (GeoCue TrueView 1 and 1 Lite), optical gas imaging (Vision Aerial OGI Scout), multispectral and hyperspectral imagers (MicaSense Altum-PT, RedEdge-P, Resonon Pika L/IR-L/IR-L+), and atmospheric sensors (Blue Halo WPV3). Differentiated technical features include the award-winning pivoting rear yaw mechanism on tricopter designs, open (non-black-box) firmware exposing all flight data, and bundled zero-subscription mission planning via Vision Aerial Flight Deck.
Vision Aerial firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Vision Aerial
- Legal name
- Vision Aerial, Inc.
- Website
- https://visionaerial.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2013
- Operating status
- Acquired
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Vision Aerial is a Montana-based American drone manufacturer founded in 2013 that designs and builds NDAA-compliant UAV platforms and field-swappable payloads for defense, government, energy, public safety, and critical infrastructure customers in the United States.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Vision Aerial industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Commercial Drones / UAV Systems
- NAICS
- Aircraft Manufacturing (336411), Other Aircraft Parts and Auxiliary Equipment Manufacturing (336413), Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing (33641), Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and Instrument Manufacturing (334511)
- SIC
- Aircraft & Parts (3720), Aircraft (3721), Search, Detection, Navagation, Guidance, Aeronautical Sys (3812), Aircraft Parts & Auxiliary Equipment, Nec (3728)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) & Multirotor Drones (IMABAIAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- UAS Payloads (EO/IR, LiDAR, SAR, SIGINT) & Gimbals (IMABAIAI), Military Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) & Autonomous Aerial Platforms (IMABAMAC), Autonomous Flight Control & Guidance Systems (UAS/Urban Air Mobility) (IMABAFAO), UAS Integration, Certification & Compliance Systems (Remote ID, Detect-and-Avoid) (IMABAIAO)
Keywords
Where Vision Aerial is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Bozeman
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Vision Aerial business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Drone Hardware Sales: Vision Aerial generates revenue primarily from the sale of American-made UAV platforms (SwitchBlade-Elite, Vector, Vulcan SX, Vulcan YX) and associated flight bundles including batteries, ground control stations, and accessories.
- Payload Sales: Modular payloads including optical cameras, optical gas imaging (OGI) sensors, LiDAR systems, thermal/visible imagers, multispectral/hyperspectral cameras, and meteorological sensors are sold as separate line items or bundled with drone platforms.
- Software Licenses: Flight Deck mission planning software is included at zero subscription cost. Processing software (Pix4D, LP360 Drone, Workswell Thermolab) is available as standalone or bundled licenses. MarkPoint documentation software is included with OGI Scout payloads.
- Accessories and Spare Parts: Batteries, rotors, custom body work, tablet/mount options, RTK GNSS packages, Pelican cases, and spare parts are sold as add-ons. Extended warranties (2nd Year Warranty) available for Vulcan, SwitchBlade-Elite, and Vector platforms.
- Professional Services and Training: Vision Aerial Academy provides structured learning pathways for Getting Started, Advancing Skills, and Scaling Programs. Technical support, service, upgrades, and repairs are provided as ongoing customer support services.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Pay-as-you-go | Custom bundle pricing — drones, payloads, and accessories configured per mission requirements |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
Vision Aerial product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Vision Aerial manufactures American-made, NDAA-compliant professional unmanned aerial vehicles, including tricopter (SwitchBlade-Elite, Vulcan SX) and hexacopter (Vector, Vulcan YX) platforms with modular payload systems. The company sells swappable payloads spanning optical, LiDAR, thermal, OGI, multispectral, and hyperspectral sensors, paired with its own Flight Deck mission-planning and MarkPoint in-field documentation software. It also offers high-precision drone flight services, operator training through the Vision Aerial Academy, and an extended warranty program.
Product overview
Vision Aerial is a Montana-based American drone manufacturer offering a modular UAS platform ecosystem. The core product line consists of three distinct drone platforms: the SwitchBlade-Elite tricopter (compact professional drone with up to 50 min flight time), the Vector hexacopter (heavy-lift workhorse with 5 kg payload capacity and 40 min endurance), and the Vulcan platform comprising Vulcan SX (medium-lift tricopter) and Vulcan YX (heavy-lift multimodal hexacopter). All drone platforms support field-swappable payloads including optical cameras (Sony ILX-LR1, a6400, RX1R ii), thermal and visible sensors (FLIR Hadron 640R, Workswell Wiris Pro/Enterprise), LiDAR systems (GeoCue TrueView 1/1 Lite), optical gas imaging (OGI Scout), multispectral/hyperspectral imagers (MicaSense Altum-PT, RedEdge-P, Resonon Pika L/IR-L/IR-L+), and meteorological sensors (Blue Halo WPV3). The software suite includes Flight Deck (mission planning, no subscription) and MarkPoint (in-field gas detection reporting). Integration with third-party photogrammetry software including Pix4D, LP360 Drone, Agisoft, DroneDeploy, and QGroundControl enables comprehensive data processing workflows.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- SwitchBlade-Elite American-made professional tricopter UAV designed for commercial and government mapping, inspection, and survey missions. Features a pivoting rear yaw mechanism for redundancy and the longest flight time in its class; supports the Indefinite Flight Package and modular payload system.
- Vector NDAA-compliant professional hexacopter UAV with redundancy/power architecture aimed at surveying, mapping, and inspection work where flight reliability and payload flexibility are required.
- Vulcan SX Medium-lift tricopter UAV designed to carry heavier modular payloads (LiDAR, hyperspectral, multispectral) while retaining the SwitchBlade-style flight profile.
- Vulcan YX
- Modular Payload System Field-swappable sensor payload family covering optical, LiDAR (e.g., GeoCue TrueView), thermal/OGI (FLIR Hadron, Workswell Wiris, OGI Scout), multispectral (MicaSense RedEdge-P, Altum-PT), and hyperspectral (Resonon Pika) sensors, designed to dock into Vision Aerial airframes via the Payload Connection System.
- Vision Aerial Flight Deck Zero-subscription, on-premise mission-planning software for planning and executing autonomous UAV flights across Vision Aerial platforms.
- Vision Aerial MarkPoint Companion in-field documentation software for tagging, organizing, and geolocating inspection points during drone-based surveys and inspections.
- High-precision drone flight services Contracted aerial data acquisition services for oil & gas, AEC, utilities, environmental, and public safety customers who need flight data without owning and operating a UAV fleet.
- Vision Aerial Academy Operator training program for the Vision Aerial UAV platforms and mission-planning software, supporting commercial and government pilots needing certification and field proficiency.
- 2nd Year Warranty Extended (second-year) hardware warranty program for Vision Aerial UAV airframes, sold separately to extend coverage beyond the standard warranty period.
Quantifiable outcome
- Pipeline right-of-way survey of 7 miles completed in 2 days, cutting traditional ground survey time by over 80%
- +6 more outcomes
Companies that use Vision Aerial
Customer profileNamed customers8 records
Segments8 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Vision Aerial technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration9 records
Feature11 records
Vision Aerial partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- RDO Integrated ControlscoreVision Aerial and RDO partnered to develop the RDR series UAVs, customized primarily for construction and earthmoving companies. The RDR series includes two models: RDROne (tri-copter) for lighter payloads and RDRTwo (hexacopter) for heavier payloads. The platforms are customizable with LiDAR, hyperspectral, multispectral, and thermal configurations. The partnership was featured in UAS Magazine.
- Montana State University (MSU)coreMSU researchers used Vision Aerial's SwitchBlade-Elite with multiple payloads (Sony α6000 RGB, FLIR Duo Pro R infrared, MicaSense RedEdge multispectral) for river ice thickness measurement to predict seasonal flooding on the Yellowstone River. The open-architecture platform enabled access to flight logs, IMU, altitude, and GPS data for scientific research workflows. The project was grant-funded and required American-made systems.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Vision Aerial competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Skydio: Skydio is a U.S.-based drone manufacturer building American-made, NDAA-compliant autonomous UAVs for defense, public safety, and enterprise inspection — directly comparable in regulatory positioning, customer base, and mission focus.
- Inspired Flight Technologies: Inspired Flight manufactures heavy-lift American-made multirotor drones (quadcopters and larger) for surveying, inspection, and defense — a direct competitor in the NDAA-compliant industrial UAS market.
- BRINC Drones: BRINC builds American-made tactical drones with a strong public safety and law enforcement focus, competing head-to-head for emergency response and first-responder accounts.
- Freefly Systems: Freefly Systems designs professional U.S.-built multirotor drones (e.g., Alta X) widely used in cinematography, mapping, and industrial inspection — overlapping with Vision Aerial's enterprise and inspection use cases.
- Teal Drones: Teal Drones is a U.S. manufacturer of small tactical UAS with a defense and security focus, targeting similar NDAA-compliant military and government procurement channels.
Emerging players
- Auterion: Auterion provides an enterprise drone platform combining open-source flight stacks with hardware integrations, increasingly competing for defense and industrial accounts with software-led differentiators.
- Wingtra: Wingtra builds VTOL fixed-wing mapping drones for surveying and inspection — overlapping in AEC, mining, and environmental verticals but serving different flight profiles (fixed-wing vs. multirotor).
Broad incumbents
- Parrot: Parrot is a European drone incumbent offering consumer, prosumer, and commercial UAS (including senseFly mapping drones) — competing broadly with Vision Aerial in commercial inspection and mapping.
- DJI: DJI is the dominant global commercial and consumer drone manufacturer with unmatched scale, pricing power, and software ecosystems — the principal pricing and market-share competitor outside NDAA-restricted channels.
- Anduril Industries: Anduril is a U.S. defense-tech prime building autonomous aerial systems (e.g., Roadrunner, Bolt) for military and homeland security — a broader incumbent competing for the same NDAA-driven defense UAS budgets.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Vision Aerial social profiles
Digital presenceVision Aerial financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Vision Aerial leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Vision Aerial funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Vision Aerial M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Vision Aerial
What does Vision Aerial do?
Vision Aerial manufactures American-made, NDAA-compliant professional unmanned aerial vehicles, including tricopter (SwitchBlade-Elite, Vulcan SX) and hexacopter (Vector, Vulcan YX) platforms with modular payload systems. The company sells swappable payloads spanning optical, LiDAR, thermal, OGI, multispectral, and hyperspectral sensors, paired with its own Flight Deck mission-planning and MarkPoint in-field documentation software. It also offers high-precision drone flight services, operator training through the Vision Aerial Academy, and an extended warranty program.
Is Vision Aerial a public or private company?
Vision Aerial is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently acquired.
When was Vision Aerial founded?
Vision Aerial was founded in 2013. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Vision Aerial based?
Vision Aerial is headquartered in Bozeman, United States, in the North America region.
How does Vision Aerial make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Drone Hardware Sales are the primary driver. The others are payload Sales, software Licenses, accessories and Spare Parts and professional Services and Training.
Who are Vision Aerial's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Skydio, Inspired Flight Technologies, BRINC Drones, Freefly Systems and Teal Drones. Emerging players are Auterion and Wingtra. Broad incumbents are Parrot, DJI and Anduril Industries.
Does Vision Aerial have an API?
No public API is recorded for Vision Aerial.
What industry is Vision Aerial in?
Vision Aerial's product category is Commercial Drones / UAV Systems. Its primary akta.pro industry code is IMABAIAA, Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) & Multirotor Drones, with a secondary code of IMABAIAI, UAS Payloads (EO/IR, LiDAR, SAR, SIGINT) & Gimbals. Its NAICS code is 336411 and its SIC code is 3720.