A long-endurance octocopter platform, engineered for missions where a manned helicopter is too expensive and an off-the-shelf quadcopter falls short. 4+ h endurance · 30 km range · 5 kg modular payload. 100% American technology, designed and integrated in the United States.
Every number here is a design decision — real endurance, verified range, field-swappable payload and eight-motor redundancy for operations where failure is not an option.
Eight independent motor-propeller sets. The aircraft maintains controlled flight and a safe return even after losing a motor — a requirement for operating over critical assets.
Station-keeping persistence. A powertrain optimized for long-duration coverage — no mid-mission aircraft swaps.
Encrypted bidirectional link. Stable command & control across rural, coastal and border environments with no loss of visibility.
EO/IR gimbal, multispectral, LiDAR, comms relay or light cargo. Swapped in under 90 seconds, in the field.
A 35 kg maximum takeoff weight: structural and energy margin to combine sensors, communications and endurance in a single sortie.
Sealed electronics and a protected powertrain for operation under precipitation. The mission window is set by the operation — not the forecast.
Benchmark / 07 · Comparative
Coverage per single mission — no repositioning, no platform swap, no downtime window.
Results. That's what flies. Every aircraft is engineered from the mission — not from a catalog.
"Most companies don't want the equipment itself — they want the result. And that's what I want to deliver: more efficiency, more reach and more safety."
"With growing restrictions on foreign equipment and strong incentives for domestic industry, the American market is living through a technology gap."
"I had hands-on experience building, designing and flying before I ever sat in a classroom. It was something you couldn't find in books."
From model-airplane parts in the living room to border-monitoring aircraft — the engineering is in the hinges, not the slides.
By age eight I was already helping my father build aircraft at home. The family traded the apartment for a workshop dedicated to full-scale projects. Over the years, five aircraft built. What began as a hobby became a vocation.
A few days before entering university, I survived a serious aircraft accident alongside my father. I started my degree still in recovery. Going back fast was a conscious decision — and a decisive one. Without it, none of what came next would have come.
FIELD · Aerospace Engineering
"The engineering is in the hinges, not the slides."
Every step of the LR-8 — airframe, propulsion, payload, comms — started with hands-on work. Two decades of building aircraft before designing them; classroom answers checked against real flight time.
I arrived at university with five aircraft already built — and was invited to share that journey with classmates and professors in my very first semesters. In parallel, I worked with drones in the field: aerial capture, training and maintenance for major broadcasters and institutions.
I led the world's first unmanned cargo transfer between offshore FPSO platforms — an operation no aircraft of its kind had ever flown, executed in conditions that demand absolute reliability. Beyond offshore, I took part in strategic programs in defense and energy — border-monitoring drones, environmental and industrial monitoring — and led the development of a high-endurance aircraft with 4 hours of flight time and a 30 km range.
The American market is living through a technology gap, with growing restrictions on foreign equipment and incentives for domestic industry. Rossi Unmanned Aerospace Systems Inc. was born in that window — an American company, with design, integration and validation conducted entirely in the United States, starting with high-endurance multirotors.
The LR-8 was engineered around a single mission — long-corridor inspection of high-voltage transmission infrastructure. That focus shapes every design decision, and the airframe stays ready for adjacent missions when the moment is right.
FIELD · American Grid Infrastructure
Continuous flight along high-voltage corridors. EO/IR survey of conductors, insulators, hardware and right-of-way — kilometers in a single sortie, helicopter-grade coverage at a fraction of the operating cost.
Detailed inspection of substations, switchyards and individual support structures. Captured as part of the corridor sweep — no second deployment, no extra crew.
Vegetation encroachment, new structures, terrain change along the corridor — long-duration coverage of the line's surroundings, automated and repeatable across maintenance cycles.
Endurance and payload margin keep the door open for adjacent missions when the moment is right. For now, the focus stays where it belongs — on energy infrastructure.
No 60-page RFP. No pre-packaged bundle. Engineering directly with the founder — response within 5 business days.
You describe the operation, perimeter, payload and window. Within 5 business days you receive an initial technical assessment — free and confidential.
LR platform configuration for the mission: payload, comms, endurance, flight profile, integration with your existing C2. Documented, auditable.
Trials in a representative environment. Telemetry logged, KPIs checked against the brief. You only sign if the mission closed.
Operational delivery, local crew training, maintenance cycle and evolution roadmap. Direct support from the founder.
Growing restrictions on foreign equipment — combined with strong incentives for domestic industry — opened a rare window for domestic suppliers with proven engineering, real endurance and an auditable production chain.
Rossi UAS is an American company answering that urgency with 100% American technology, built right here. Without outsourcing what matters: design, integration, testing, validation.
"The American market is living through a technology gap. And that window won't stay open forever."
DOMAIN · Firmware & Embedded
Rossi UAS is building from the airframe up — an American multirotor platform engineered for the missions the country depends on. We're opening a small number of conversations with strategic partners, capital and industry.
Strategic Partners
You operate the grid, we fly it. Early-access partnerships with utilities, ISOs and EPC contractors that need long-corridor inspection capability built around their span profile, not retrofitted to it.
Investors
Equity participation in a domestic UAS company addressing a regulatory window that won't stay open forever. Founder-led, engineering-first, mission-narrow by design — and that is the design.
Industry & Supply
If you build motors, ESCs, gimbals, comms modules or anything in between on American soil — let's talk. Supply chain integrity is a product feature, not a logistics afterthought.
For partnership, investor and supplier inquiries — direct line to the founder. NDA available on first call.
Lucas is an aerospace engineer. Before graduating he had already built five full-scale aircraft with his father. At 18 he survived a serious aircraft accident — and was back flying a month later.
He worked with drones from his first years at university — aerial capture for major broadcasters, training, maintenance — and later led the development of high-endurance aircraft for defense, border and energy programs. Today, at the helm of Rossi UAS in the United States, he builds mission-critical multirotors for the world's largest UAS market.
We're hiring American engineers, technicians and pilots to build the next chapter of domestic UAS. Small team, real aircraft, fast iteration — and a country that needs the capability now.
Airframe, propulsion, payload mounts, manufacturing. CAD, prototyping, finite element analysis, ground testing.
Full-time · USAFlight controller firmware, sensor fusion, comms stack, mission planning. C, C++, Rust, real-time systems.
Full-time · Remote-friendlyTest campaigns, mission rehearsal, field operations, training. FAA Part 107 minimum, BVLOS waiver experience a plus.
Full-time · Field-basedProduction engineering, vendor management, quality systems. Hands-on with carbon fiber, machining, electronics assembly.
Full-time · USANo formal listing matches?
If you read about this company and recognized yourself — we'd rather hear from you now than miss you later. One paragraph: what you've built, what you'd build with us.
Fleet, missions, maintenance and crew — the LR-8 command environment, embedded in this site. Access is restricted to authorized operators; credentials are issued directly by Rossi UAS.
The module is stored encrypted (AES-256-GCM) and is only decrypted in your browser after a valid credential is entered.
Operator access · Encrypted module
The operation to be flown, perimeter, endurance, payload and operational window. Within 5 business days you receive an initial technical assessment — free, confidential, conducted by the founder.
Restricted access
Mission Operations Platform · The module is decrypted locally in your browser. Three pieces of telemetry never leave this page: your credential, your session, your data.
Access denied — invalid credential