Swift Engineering excels in rapid composite fabrication and high-performance aerospace component design 

Swift Engineering (Swift) began as Swift Race Cars in 1983. It was in 1991 that the business rebranded to Swift Engineering, and by the early 2000s, the business had expanded to support the design and fabrication of composite and metallic structures found within autonomous systems, helicopters, submarines, spacecraft, ground vehicles, and robotics. 

Mike Chan, General Manager, shares some highlights and a more detailed overview of the company: “With its early history focused on motorsports, the 1990s saw Swift construct the largest rolling wind tunnel in North America, build an Indy car chassis that won its debut race, as well as hold the exclusive contract to build the chassis for the Formula Atlantic series for 11 years.

“The company’s subsequent achievements as it expanded beyond motorsport include designing and building a single-engine business jet that had its first flight within 200 days, the development of a mobile launch and retrieval system purchased by Northrop Grumman, designing and developing the Swift vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) with patented X-Blade technology, as well as designing and manufacturing an Affordable Atmospheric Satellite with NASA. 

“Since 2021, Swift has been a strategic partner on various X-Plane programs, contributed to the development of a personal ultralight electric vertical take-off and landing (EVTOL) air vehicle, supported the design and analysis of key structural components on street mapping vehicles, and supported the development of fire-safe components for maritime vessels. 

“Swift’s core strength lies in rapid composite fabrication techniques, including out-of-autoclave (OOA) processing, co-cured structures, and integrated tooling design. These processes are used across unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), crewed aircraft, and high-performance aerospace components that help shape the future of aerospace. 

“With over 40 years of experience innovating, engineering, and building intelligent and advanced products, vehicles, and systems, including manned and unmanned systems, autonomous vehicles, robotics, and advanced composites for commercial, government, and military applications, Swift provides innovative design, development, testing, tooling, pre-production, low-rate initial production (LRIP), and integration of products and technologies. 

“Swift’s engineering services include ideation, design, system engineering, prototype manufacturing, testing, rapid fleet surge manufacturing, as well as field support, services, and repairs. Swift’s manufacturing capabilities are equally impressive and extensive. They encompass tooling design, part fabrication, assembly, and integration of anything from complete vehicles, large airframes, to complex assemblies, with particular expertise in co-cured integrated structures.” 

Mike then goes on to highlight some of the more notable projects the company has completed recently: “The Swift Accipiter, for example, is a gas-powered, long-endurance UAS capable of carrying a ten-pound payload for over 14 hours. We also have the Swift Crane, which is an advanced VTOL UAS developed in-house. With applications ranging from mapping, observation, and surveying to inspection, the versatile craft is fully electric with a range of 25 kilometers. There is also the Swift Banshee, a highly portable, fully electric, transitional VTOL UAS. The Banshee leverages the benefits of aircraft speed, deployment simplicity, and control authority (in hover) of a rotorcraft. Projects such as Raider-X, X-59 QueSST, and SULE also stand out due to their use of advanced composite design, enabling extreme weight savings, structural integration, and performance in flight-critical applications.” 

For a company operating on the frontier of industries that rapidly evolve as materials, technologies, and engineering techniques can quickly be superseded by better solutions, research and development is a vital component of success. Mike explains Swift’s approach: “Our research and development team is versatile, agile, and vertically integrated. From trade studies, to sizing and design, detailed analysis, innovative tool design, manufacturing, integration, testing, and support services, Swift manages all steps in the process, ensuring efficiency and design optimization. Swift’s fundamental approach to innovation includes dreaming big. This helps us spark innovation during ideation and planning. We also prioritize sound systems engineering to ensure the resilience of our products.” 

Mike then highlights some key partnerships which have made significant contributions to Swift’s ongoing success: “Working with HyperKelp, we developed the Kelp Smart Buoy. The product is an innovative, modular, and affordable aquatic environmental monitoring system. This buoy is designed to be adaptable to the changing needs of the global marine business market. 

“We have also, in partnership with the Department of Defense, developed the Swift NightWing, a Group-1 fully electric, long-range UAS. With a compact design, it can carry a payload of two and a half pounds with a flight time of four and a half hours. There is also the Swift Ultra Long Endurance (SULE), which emerged from a close collaboration with NASA. It is a High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) UAS. The craft was developed under a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I and II Grant and further bolstered with internal development funding. The aircraft is designed to fly for over 100 days at an altitude of over 65,000 feet. It supports multiple mission sets and has a payload capacity of ten pounds.” 

Mike then concludes with a look forward: “As we move through 2025, Swift Engineering is actively pursuing innovative approaches in product development, with a focus on next-generation systems driven by market needs and regulatory evolution, particularly the transition from FAA Part 107 to Part 108. Our research and development efforts include enabling Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations and advancing bio-inspired UAV platforms, positioning Swift at the forefront of high-endurance, adaptive uncrewed systems. 

“Further afield, Swift Engineering is committed to the development of the next-generation autonomous UAVs, supporting the expansion of urban air solutions, and enhancing high-altitude long-endurance platforms.”   

https://swiftengineering.com