Harris Aerial
Harris Aerial is a privately-held, NDAA-compliant US drone manufacturer building Blue UAS Cleared heavy-lift UAV platforms and ground control stations for defense, federal, surveying, agriculture, and security buyers.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2014
- HeadquartersCasselberry, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Harris Aerial does
Harris Aerial is a privately-held US drone manufacturer (LLC, founded 2014) headquartered in Casselberry, Florida, specializing in NDAA-compliant, Blue UAS Cleared heavy-lift UAV platforms and ground control systems for defense, federal, and commercial survey customers. Its product architecture is built on a modular airframe concept: the H6 hexacopter family is convertible between fully-electric, gas-electric hybrid, and hydrogen fuel cell power in under 15 minutes, with a universal quick-release payload connector delivering 12V/24V/48V power and full data interfaces. The broader portfolio includes the HX8 octocopter with X8 coaxial motor redundancy, the H6HL extreme heavy-lift platform (40 kg payload), the H4C compact quadcopter launching Q4 2026, and a tethered persistent-overwatch configuration (HX8 Tether with LEAP Solo 5K) enabling 24-hour endurance. Four ground control stations (NEXUS, C-GCS, C-NAVIGATOR, C-SRoC) round out the ecosystem alongside proprietary MagNIMBUS and V2Mag UAV magnetometers.
The company runs an engineering-led direct sales model with no e-commerce or self-serve channel; mission intake forms route inquiries to platform engineers who produce custom quotes and integration plans. Three platforms hold Blue UAS Cleared List status from the DoD Defense Innovation Unit, enabling procurement via DLA TLS and GSA channels without Exception-to-Policy requests. Harris monetizes through hardware sales of platforms and ground control stations plus custom integration services for mission-specific payload configurations, with multi-year contract billing typical. Revenue streams are anchored by defense and federal customers (U.S. DoD, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) alongside commercial surveying, agriculture, utilities, and security/law enforcement end users, supported by a documented 1,000+ sensor-platform integration ecosystem spanning LiDAR, EO/IR, hyperspectral, multispectral, magnetometer, and GPR partners.
The company operates with a very small team of 1–10 employees, has not disclosed any institutional funding rounds, and reports no revenue figures publicly. Strategic priorities visible in the data center on expanding the cleared-platform catalog, broadening the sensor partnership ecosystem (Phoenix LiDAR, GeoCue, RIEGL, HySpex, SPH Engineering, Sentera, Desert Rotor, and others), and capturing share in federal and defense procurement as foreign-drone restrictions tighten.
Harris Aerial firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Harris Aerial
- Legal name
- Harris Aerial, LLC
- Website
- https://harrisaerial.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2014
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Harris Aerial is a privately-held, NDAA-compliant US drone manufacturer building Blue UAS Cleared heavy-lift UAV platforms and ground control stations for defense, federal, surveying, agriculture, and security buyers.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Harris Aerial industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Commercial Drones & UAV Systems
- NAICS
- Aircraft Manufacturing (336411)
- SIC
- Aircraft & Parts (3720), Search, Detection, Navagation, Guidance, Aeronautical Sys (3812)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Military Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) & Autonomous Aerial Platforms (IMABAMAC)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- VTOL & Hybrid UAV Platforms (IMABAIAC), Autonomous Flight Control & Guidance Systems (UAS/Urban Air Mobility) (IMABAFAO), UAS Integration, Certification & Compliance Systems (Remote ID, Detect-and-Avoid) (IMABAIAO)
Keywords
Where Harris Aerial is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Casselberry
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Harris Aerial business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Personnel, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Heavy-Lift Drone Platforms: Sale of USA-made heavy-lift hexacopter, quadcopter, and octocopter platforms for defense, enterprise, and industrial applications
- Ground Control Stations: Sale of proprietary ground control stations including NEXUS handheld, C-GCS professional, C-NAVIGATOR rugged, and C-SRoC soldier robotic controller
- Custom Integration Services: Mission-specific engineering consultation and custom integration of payloads including LiDAR, cameras, magnetometers, and sensors onto Harris airframes
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Custom Quote-Based System |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels5 records
Harris Aerial product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Harris Aerial designs and manufactures heavy-lift unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and supporting ground control stations for commercial and industrial applications. The company produces electric and hybrid multi-rotor drones capable of carrying heavy payloads, along with specialized sensor payloads and mission control systems for surveying, mapping, and inspection use cases.
Product overview
Harris Aerial offers a platform-plus-modules architecture centered on USA-made, NDAA-compliant heavy-lift drone systems. The core product line includes the H6 hexacopter family (Electric, Hybrid EFI, and Hydrone hydrogen variants), the HX8 octocopter with X8 coaxial redundancy, the H4C compact quadcopter, and the H6HL extreme heavy-lift platform. All airframes share a Universal Quick-Release Connector supporting 12V/24V/48V power and full data interfaces. Ground control stations include the NEXUS enterprise handheld, C-GCS professional-grade system in Pelican case, C-NAVIGATOR rugged handheld, and C-SRoC soldier robotic controller — all running HA Ground Control with MAVLink native support. Proprietary payloads include MagNIMBUS and V2Mag magnetometers. The product ecosystem integrates third-party sensor payloads across LiDAR (Phoenix LiDAR Systems, GeoCue, RIEGL), EO/IR cameras (VIO, NextVision, Workswell), hyperspectral imaging (Headwall, HySpex), multispectral cameras (MicaSense, Sentera), and geophysical sensors. Three platforms (H6 Electric, H6 Hybrid EFI, H6HL) hold Blue UAS Cleared List status for DoD procurement.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- H6 Electric
Quantifiable outcome
- 40 KG maximum payload capacity on Carrier H6HL - industry-leading for Blue UAS cleared platforms
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Harris Aerial
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Harris Aerial technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration24 records
Feature7 records
Harris Aerial partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- Phoenix LiDAR SystemscoreIntegration partnership for UAV-rated LiDAR systems. Harris Aerial platforms validated with multiple Phoenix sensors including RANGER-U120, RANGER-U160, RANGER-U240, RANGER-UAV22 FLEX, SCOUT-M2X+, Recon-XT, Miniranger-3 LITE, and HydroRanger. Live demonstrations at TopoDOT 2026 conference.
- GeoCuecorePre-calibrated all-in-one LiDAR + camera systems for Harris fleet including TrueView 515, 535, 540, 641, 655/660, TV1 Lite, TV1, 720, 680/680LR, and RedTail RTL-450. H6 Hybrid featured in U.S. Army Corps of Engineers training with TrueView 660.
- SenteracoreIntegration of Sentera 65R high-resolution RGB sensor (65MP), 6X multispectral sensor, and 6X thermal sensors on Harris platforms. Multi-sensor agriculture stacks demonstrated on H4C including bathymetric profiling with SPH EchoSounder.
- SPH EngineeringcoreMulti-sensor integration partnership covering MagNIMBUS UAV magnetometer and EchoSounder bathymetric sensor. Field-verified sensor stacks for survey-grade output across Harris carrier fleet.
- RIEGL USAcoreLiDAR calibration and testing partnership. Harris platforms tested with VUX-120, miniVUX-3UAV-SYS, and newly launched VUX-820-G topo-bathymetric LiDAR at RIEGL USA calibration field.
- HySpexcoreHyperspectral sensor integration including Mjolnir VS-620, Mjolnir V-1240, and Mjolnir S-620 on Harris carrier platforms. H6 Heavy-Lift paired with HySpex VS-620 for hyperspectral targeting and mining surveys.
- Desert RotorcoreSmartView OSD (On-Screen Display) interface integration powering the C-GCS ground control station. Universal interface compatible with all Harris Carrier drones and most third-party UAVs and autopilot stacks including ArduPilot and PX4.
- U.S. DoD Defense Innovation UnitcoreBlue UAS program managed by Defense Innovation Unit vets drones against strict government standards for cybersecurity, data privacy, and operational reliability. Harris Aerial has three platforms on the cleared list enabling rapid DoD procurement.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Harris Aerial competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- AeroVironment: Established U.S. military unmanned aircraft systems manufacturer (Switchblade loitering munitions, Puma, Raven) with deep DoD relationships and a public-market profile. Comparable on military UAS and federal procurement pathways, but AeroVironment is a much larger, publicly traded incumbent with a different product mix.
- Anduril Industries: Large, well-capitalized U.S. defense-tech prime building autonomous systems including UAS (Ghost / Roadrunner), counter-UAS, and AI-driven mission software. Overlaps with Harris on heavy-lift autonomous aerial platforms for DoD and on Blue UAS-relevant federal procurement, but operates as a broad defense prime rather than a UAS specialist.
Direct peers
- Skydio: Leading U.S.-made autonomous drone manufacturer with deep defense and federal presence (Blue UAS cleared, DIU-backed). Directly comparable on NDAA-compliant American-made UAS serving DoD, federal, and enterprise buyers, though Skydio focuses on small autonomous quadcopters rather than Harris's heavy-lift platforms.
- Freefly Systems: U.S.-based drone manufacturer producing heavy-lift and cinema-grade multirotors (e.g., Alta X) used in surveying, mapping, and cinematography. Comparable on heavy-lift American-made multirotor platforms and enterprise/surveying buyer overlap, though Freefly's commercial cinema heritage differs from Harris's defense-led focus.
- Draganfly: Canadian/U.S. drone manufacturer producing commercial multirotors for surveying, public safety, agriculture, and defense. Comparable on heavy-lift commercial UAS and multi-vertical payload integration, though Draganfly's product mix spans smaller tactical platforms rather than Harris's heavy-lift focus.
- Teal Drones: U.S.-made drone manufacturer on the Blue UAS Cleared List, focused on small tactical and mapping quadcopters for defense and security markets. Closest direct peer given shared Blue UAS / NDAA positioning, American manufacturing footprint, and federal sales motion, though Teal operates at smaller airframe scales than Harris.
- Quantum Systems: German/U.S.-based manufacturer of eVTOL and dual-use military/reconnaissance drones (Trinity, Vector) competing in the same heavy-lift surveying and defense mapping category. Comparable on multi-mission heavy-lift UAS and surveying/defense buyer overlap, though Quantum's eVTOL fixed-wing designs differ from Harris's pure multirotor lineup.
- Wingtra: Swiss manufacturer of VTOL fixed-wing surveying drones integrated with LiDAR and photogrammetry payloads for surveying, mining, and mapping firms. Comparable on the surveying/mapping customer base and emphasis on LiDAR integration workflows, but uses VTOL fixed-wing airframes rather than heavy-lift multirotors.
- Inspired Flight Technologies: U.S.-made heavy-lift multirotor drone manufacturer serving surveying, mapping, agriculture, and public-safety markets with NDAA-compliant platforms. Directly comparable on heavy-lift American-made UAS, surveying/enterprise customer overlap, and emphasis on third-party payload integration.
Others
- Auterion: Open-source-based drone software and autonomy platform provider serving enterprise and defense customers with fleet management and autopilot stacks. Adjacent to Harris via shared ArduPilot/PX4 ecosystem, MAVLink-native ground control, and enterprise drone buyer overlap.
Market position
Strengths1 record
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Harris Aerial social profiles
Digital presenceHarris Aerial compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance7 records
Harris Aerial financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Harris Aerial leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Harris Aerial funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Harris 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 Harris Aerial
What does Harris Aerial do?
Harris Aerial designs and manufactures heavy-lift unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and supporting ground control stations for commercial and industrial applications. The company produces electric and hybrid multi-rotor drones capable of carrying heavy payloads, along with specialized sensor payloads and mission control systems for surveying, mapping, and inspection use cases.
Is Harris Aerial a public or private company?
Harris Aerial is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Harris Aerial founded?
Harris Aerial was founded in 2014. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Harris Aerial based?
Harris Aerial is headquartered in Casselberry, United States, in the North America region.
How does Harris Aerial make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Heavy-Lift Drone Platforms are the primary driver. The others are ground Control Stations and custom Integration Services.
Who are Harris Aerial's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are AeroVironment and Anduril Industries. Direct peers are Skydio, Freefly Systems, Draganfly, Teal Drones, Quantum Systems, Wingtra and Inspired Flight Technologies. Auterion is listed as an others.
Does Harris Aerial have an API?
No public API is recorded for Harris Aerial.
What industry is Harris Aerial in?
Harris Aerial's product category is Commercial Drones & UAV Systems. Its primary akta.pro industry code is IMABAMAC, Military Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) & Autonomous Aerial Platforms, with a secondary code of IMABAIAC, VTOL & Hybrid UAV Platforms. Its NAICS code is 336411 and its SIC code is 3720.