AIRCRAFT · IN DEVELOPMENT

Phantom.

Heavy lift for the contested fight.

A folding coaxial-X8 multirotor one operator carries in. No vehicle, no trailer, no case. It hauls what ISR drones can't and reaches where cargo drones can't, with GhostOS running the mission onboard. Built for denied, GPS-jammed, comms-contested ground.
Phantom coaxial-X8 heavy-lift drone
01 / THE CLASS

Built for the space between.

Compact ISR drones give you an eye in the sky. Cargo drones give you lift, but they need a vehicle, cases, and a crew. Phantom is the aircraft in between: one operator carries it forward, and it does more than watch. It carries, places, delivers, deploys, and recovers mission equipment where the road doesn't go and the network doesn't reach.
ONE-PERSON PORTABLE

Four side-folding arms collapse alongside the central chassis. Front and rear arms fold into offset parallel lanes, so the coaxial motor assemblies stay side by side rather than stacking vertically. Folding propellers remain attached and stow inside a padded sleeve.

The mission battery can stay installed for rapid deployment or be carried separately to lighten the operator's load. Deployment objective: under two minutes.

TRANSPORT
  • ·Dedicated drone backpack
  • ·External rucksack frame
  • ·Semi-rigid soft-shell sleeve
  • ·Compact hard case
  • ·Vehicle or field equipment rack
A DIFFERENT CLASS OF PACKABLE DRONE
A one-person-carried autonomous aircraft capable of transporting mission equipment that compact ISR drones cannot carry.
PAYLOAD OBJ
15–20 lb
HEAVY HAUL
~30 lb
DEPLOY
<2 min
02 / MISSION PAYLOADS

Carry, place, deliver, deploy, recover.

Phantom is built for payloads too large for compact ISR aircraft but too small to justify a vehicle-carried cargo octocopter. Short-range heavy lift, longer-range reduced-payload runs, and land-and-operate relay missions.
REPRESENTATIVE PAYLOADS
  • ·Medical & emergency supplies
  • ·Communications relay equipment
  • ·RF & networking payloads
  • ·EO/IR & mapping sensors
  • ·Deployable mesh-network nodes
  • ·UWB anchors & nav beacons
  • ·Environmental sensors
  • ·Batteries & power modules
  • ·Search-and-rescue equipment
  • ·Custom government & research
MODULAR MISSION BAY

A standardized underside interface lets payloads be carried separately and installed in the field, changed without redesigning the aircraft.

Mechanical slide railsPositive locking pinsTool-free attachmentRegulated payload powerEthernetUSBCANSerialPayload identificationCenter-of-gravity alignment marks
LAND · OPERATE · RECOVER

Phantom isn't limited to dropping a payload and returning. For comms and sensor missions it can persist on station without burning energy in continuous hover.

  1. 01Carry a payload to elevated or inaccessible terrain
  2. 02Autonomously land or dock
  3. 03Shut down the propulsion system
  4. 04Operate the payload from onboard or dedicated power
  5. 05Relaunch for recovery or repositioning
03 / AIRFRAME & AUTONOMY

Brains, avionics, and propulsion.

The onboard autonomy computer runs mission-level behavior; the flight controller keeps stabilization and motor control. Open avionics and coaxial-X8 propulsion, with GhostOS, GhostWing's edge autonomy, running onboard.
GHOSTOS AUTONOMY · PLANNED
  • ·High-level mission tasking
  • ·Autonomous waypoint & route execution
  • ·Obstacle detection
  • ·Collision-prevention velocity limiting
  • ·GPS-degraded navigation & visual odometry
  • ·Onboard perception
  • ·Mission replanning
  • ·Automated landing
  • ·Health & power monitoring
  • ·Multi-vehicle coordination
  • ·TAK-compatible command & SA

How the wing thinks. See the approach →

COAXIAL X8 PROPULSION
  • ·Eight motors in a four-arm footprint
  • ·Higher lift without an eight-arm frame
  • ·Compact folding geometry
  • ·Improved propulsion redundancy
  • ·Greater payload margin
  • ·Independent motor control
  • ·Replaceable arm-end propulsion modules

DEV ARCHITECTURE · 22" FOLDING PROPS · 12S

OPEN AVIONICS ARCHITECTURE
Flight control
ARK · PX4 / ArduPilot-compatible
Edge compute
NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX class
Storage
Onboard solid-state
Perception
Forward + downward sensors
Nav sensing
Optical flow, range, GNSS, IMU, baro
Comms
Modular radio interfaces
Power
Separate regulated avionics + payload rails

Designed to support future communications, navigation, sensing, and payload upgrades, with qualified flight-control and edge-compute components, modular by intent.

04 / DEVELOPMENT TARGETS

Configure to the mission.

Final specifications depend on flight testing, battery selection, environment, and payload. The figures below are engineering objectives, not final rated specifications.
ENDURANCE
Comms, sensing, relay placement.
  • ·Reduced payload
  • ·Larger mission battery
  • ·Longer flight duration
  • ·Land-and-operate capable
STANDARD UTILITY
Routine payload delivery & sensor transport.
  • ·Balanced battery + payload
  • ·Useful operational range
  • ·Normal maneuver & reserve margins
HEAVY SHORT-HAUL
Larger payloads, shorter distances.
  • ·Reduced battery capacity
  • ·Increased mission payload
  • ·Shorter flight duration
  • ·Higher structural & propulsion loading
DEVELOPMENT PERFORMANCE TARGETS
Propulsion configuration
Coaxial X8
Rotor positions / motors
4 arms · 8 motors
Propeller size
22-inch folding
Propulsion voltage
12S
Folded length
≈ 24–28 in
Folded width
≈ 18–21 in
Folded thickness
≈ 6–8 in
Lean flight-ready weight
≈ 30–40 lb
Nominal payload objective
15–20 lb
Heavy short-haul objective
up to ≈ 30 lb
Deployment time objective
under 2 minutes
Transport
One-person rucksack / carrier
Payload interface
Modular mechanical, power, data
Autonomy compute
NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX class
Flight control
ARK / PX4 or ArduPilot-compatible
CURRENT STATUS · IN DEVELOPMENT

Phantom is in active development. Initial work focuses on:

  • Folding chassis design
  • Coaxial propulsion validation
  • Battery & endurance testing
  • Structural load testing
  • Payload-interface development
  • Autonomy integration
  • Communications-relay demonstrations
  • Medical & sensor payload demonstrations

Learn how GhostForge supports product development, integration, and test as an internal capability in the GhostForge overview. For evaluation or development partnerships, get in touch.