We design and manufacture long-range autonomous aircraft at price points the industry says aren't possible. Built from off-the-shelf components in Texas.

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About

Marginal Systems builds long-range autonomous aircraft at price points an order of magnitude below the industry standard. Comparable platforms from established manufacturers cost $20,000 to over $100,000.

PHANTOM achieves the same range and payload capacity for $3,000 to $5,000 through supply chain optimization and a deliberate engineering philosophy of omitting features that don't serve the core mission of moving payloads across long distances efficiently.

Platform

Platform / PHANTOM

Phantom

Long-Range Cargo & Utility UAV

Fixed-wing delta configuration with long-endurance gas propulsion. Designed for autonomous cargo delivery, survey, and monitoring across distances that ground logistics cannot reach economically.

Unit cost
$3,000 — $5,000
Range
1,000 — 1,500 km
Endurance
10 — 15 hrs
Payload
15 — 20 kg
Cruise speed
100 — 130 km/h
Wingspan
2,500 mm
Length
3,500 mm
Engine
55cc 2-stroke (pusher)
Fuel
10L internal tank
Navigation
GPS/INS + satcom
Launch
Catapult / rail
Airframe
Foam / composite

Applications

Remote cargo delivery

Deliver medical supplies, equipment, and critical goods to remote or underserved areas where ground transport is impractical or prohibitively expensive. No runway required.

Aerial survey & mapping

Cover wide geographies in a single sortie. Pipeline and power line inspection, agricultural monitoring at scale, and environmental observation across hundreds of kilometers.

Scientific research

Autonomous data collection in remote environments — oceanic, Arctic, desert, mountain. Carry sensor payloads over distances that make rotary-wing platforms impractical.

Emergency response

Rapid logistics for disaster zones. Deliver supplies where roads are destroyed and helicopters are unavailable. Catapult launch means deployment from any clearing.

Coastal & border observation

Long-endurance aerial monitoring for civilian agencies. 10 to 15 hours of continuous flight covers vast stretches of coastline or terrain at a fraction of manned aircraft costs.

Manufacturing & Approach

Off-the-shelf supply chain

Flight controllers from mRo and ARK Electronics. Gas engines from OS Engines. Telemetry from RFDesign. Components sourced from US, Japanese, Australian, and European manufacturers. No exotic materials, no rare parts.

Distributed production

Foam or composite airframes producible in any small workshop. No specialized facilities, no clean rooms, no million-dollar tooling. Designed for distributed manufacturing at small facilities anywhere.

Cost-driven engineering

Every feature that doesn't serve the core mission of moving payloads across long distances efficiently has been deliberately omitted. The result is a platform that costs 5x to 30x less than comparable systems from established manufacturers.

Get in touch

founders@marginalsystems.com