Few could have imagined how large drone weapons would loom after three years of war in Ukraine, following the specter of their battlefield dominance and their use in shock attacks against distant Russian airbases and warships.

But a Colorado engineering firm is paying attention, and they’re now aggressively aiming for the Defense Department-related business that is already resulting from fast-moving events in Ukraine and the Middle East.

This week, a team of consulting engineers at Centennial-based Answer Engineering was showing off something that a large defense contractor might have trouble duplicating in a short period of time — a military-capable fixed wing drone, 16-feet in length, that was designed, built and flight-tested in four months.

The finished product, says Answer Engineering’s Executive Director Tucker Ash, used battery-powered engines for its three initial flight tests.

8,000-mile design

But the design, Ash added, could be modified with combustion engines to carry out a military mission ranging up to 8,000 miles.

Answer’s XRAE-1 craft weighs under 55 pounds, including its heaviest part, the battery.

That 55-pound threshold is important because it qualifies the craft as a “Group 2” unmanned aircraft system, small enough to avoid some red tape required by the Federal Aviation Administration that can slow down testing a new prototype. Last month, UAS craft were specifically named as a U.S. defense priority in a policy shift announced by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

“Drones are the biggest battlefield innovation in a generation, accounting for most of this year’s casualties in Ukraine,” Hegseth said in a recorded statement that announced a deregulation of drones for the purpose of upping production of the devices.

“Our adversaries produce millions of cheap drones each year,” Hegseth added.

Surpass Iranian drones

Answer’s Ash says the company’s demo-drone shows a level of quality that drones being used by Russian forces, particularly those being mass-produced by Iran, would be hard pressed to match.

Meanwhile, Answer’s parent company is Massachusetts-based Re:Build Manufacturing, with an expertise in helping industries scale up for mass production. Although Ash could not confirm, Re:Build is said to do a reported $200 to $300 million in annual sales.

With a staff of 72, mostly engineers, and a large test bay with a mix of fabrication equipment, Answer’s business is largely centered in structural design and analysis. “Structural design and analysis is the heavy lift when developing a new aircraft with lots of components,” Ash said.

Business has been brisk — enough that the company added another 20 staff since the first of the year to handle the volume.

But parent Re:Build’s focus on manufacturing, Ash says, gives the smaller company the capability to help clients create prototypes rapidly, with the requirement of scaling up to mass production already figured into the design.

Ash told The Gazette he’s reluctant to mention specific clients and contracts, many of them defense related. But he says they include work on commercial space vehicles, electric powered craft and supersonic travel.

“We’ve worked on some cool projects,” he said.

Preparing for China conflict

The new venture, he adds, has less to do with manufacturing a weapon than selling Answer’s engineering capabilities to established aerospace players who need help gearing up for the drone market.

XRAE’s 8,000-mile range is important to getting that business. Although much of the attention has been on battlefield drones like the quadcopter versions being heavily used on frontlines in eastern Ukraine and the Middle East, Ash says that the Defense Department’s focus will also likely be on preparing for any conflict with China.

“The Indo Pacific region is a vast area to be covered, with lots of ocean and not a lot of places to land,” Ash added.

That has led Answer to design XRAE as a vehicle with a wider wingspan and a sleek, blended wing design that would work for longer missions.

“We wanted a blended wing because the margins for error are smaller,” Ash added. “We wanted to show what we can bring to the table. This showcases everything.”

Ash says that even “legacy” aerospace companies such as Raytheon, Lockheed and AeroVironment that win major contracts will be impressed by the turnaround time of XRAE’s design and production. The Defense Department is used to using those contractors, although Ash says that for DOD, using past conventional routes will prove to be a lot slower and more expensive.

“Government is comfortable spending more money, so it keeps validating that approach,” he added.

‘Show pony’

Ash says Answer’s team went from a napkin sketch of XRAE to a first flight in just four months, representing huge potential cost savings, in addition to meeting a faster timetable. Answer built two of the prototype craft in that short timeframe, completely designed and fabricated in its headquarters in Inverness Office Park beside Centennial Airport, using thermoset composites and 3-D printing technology.

But XRAE was specifically designed to scale-up using thermoplastic-stamping manufacturing that would be required for faster production — something Ash says only the prime aerospace contractors could do, and not this rapidly.

The three test flights, carried out at a remote Colorado site, were by the first of the two craft. However, the second version may be more important — what engineers call a “show pony” — painted up with a sleek, polished finish.

Answer already dispatched that craft to an aerospace show early this month, and it will be making similar appearances in the company’s bid for the wider market. “A lot of the cost is in the schedule,” he said. “We can do that in four months. We have the internal tools we’ve developed and we have a cool mockup drone.”

The key to getting the business, he adds, is in being able both to design the craft and scale it for production.

“There’s a difference between prototyping and production people,” Ash said. “People who do one well typically don’t do the other.

“We want to provide one stop. We’re fully leaning into this; we’re excited to do it.”