Elroy Air, the California-based maker of the autonomous Chaparral cargo drone, is going public via a merger with Columbus Circle Capital Corp II, a special purpose acquisition company backed by Inflection Point Asset Management and Cohen & Company. The transaction pegs Elroy Air at roughly $800 million pre-money and about $1 billion in enterprise value once closed, and includes more than $165 million of committed PIPE financing.
Nasdaq ticker ELRY targets a Q4 close
Assuming shareholder and regulatory approval, the deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, at which point the combined company will trade on the Nasdaq under ticker ELRY. Elroy Air plans to use the proceeds to scale manufacturing of the Chaparral, invest in software and hybrid-electric powertrain R&D, hire engineering talent and pursue tuck-in acquisitions.
Chaparral: 500 lb payload, 450-mile range
The Chaparral is a hybrid-electric VTOL cargo drone that hauls more than 500 pounds of freight up to 450 miles and swaps interchangeable pods between missions, letting operators skip runways and fixed logistics infrastructure. Elroy Air says its order pipeline exceeds 1,400 aircraft and roughly $5 billion in potential revenue, with letters of intent from Bristow Group, Barq Group, SLI and FedEx. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions will serve as the exclusive US manufacturer, with first deliveries expected late 2026.
Defense pipeline drives the SPAC pitch
More than six years of programs with the US Army, Marine Corps and Air Force have positioned Elroy Air's Chaparral as the only purpose-built heavy-cargo drone in the US Department of Transportation's eVTOL Integration Pilot Program. Elroy recently cleared 22 test requirements with Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force for inter-island cargo and signed a $200 million joint venture with Barq Group to stand up an Abu Dhabi assembly line for MENA customers. The listing lands as autonomous heavy-cargo pipelines from Zipline in Texas and Six Robotics in Europe race to convert defense pilots into commercial revenue.
Reporting based on coverage from DroneDJ, BusinessWire, Aviation Week and Elroy Air's press release.