DronesDelivery and survey drone

Wingcopter 198

Name: Wingcopter 198
Brand: Wingcopter

Wingcopter is a German drone maker. Its main product, the Wingcopter 198, is an electric drone used mostly to carry medicines and lab samples, and now also for mapping roads and power lines. In 2026 it also started making military reconnaissance drones. DroneXL, 15 Sept 2026

Stage 4 of 5

Paying customers

Which rule placed it

Evidence: Company-reported only
Human help: Remote operators
Last milestone: 14 Sept 2026

01Can I get it?

Yes, in places

Where it works today: Medical delivery flights in Malawi since 2019; the company also lists flying in Japan, the US, Kenya, Germany and Spain. Tech.eu, 7 Mar 2025
Published price: No published price in our sources.
Human help: No pilot aboard; one remote operator can fly and watch up to 10 drones at a time. FreightWaves, 20 May 2022

02Track record

What has actually happened

Every milestone is dated and links to the page it comes from. Lines marked company-reported rest on the maker's own word.

14 Sept 2026
Unveiled
Wingcopter launched the Wingcopter 262, a military reconnaissance drone it says can stay in the air for up to six hours.
DroneXL, 15 Sept 2026Company-reported
17 Feb 2026
Update
Wingcopter announced a joint venture with Ukraine's TAF Industries to make reconnaissance drones in Germany for Ukrainian forces.
The Drone Girl, 17 Feb 2026Company-reported
7 March 2025
On sale · sets the stage
Wingcopter began selling long-range LiDAR (laser mapping) survey kits for the Wingcopter 198. It says one flight can survey up to 60 km of long structures such as pipelines or power lines.
Tech.eu, 7 Mar 2025Company-reported
21 June 2022
Funding
Wingcopter raised $42 million, with German supermarket group REWE among the new investors.
STAT Times, 21 June 2022Company-reported
20 May 2022
Update
Wingcopter announced a plan with Continental Drones to build a network of 12,000 Wingcopter 198 drones across Africa over five years.
FreightWaves, 20 May 2022Company-reported
12 May 2022
Update
The US aviation regulator, the FAA, approved the safety standards the Wingcopter 198 must meet, one step toward the type certificate it needs for commercial US deliveries.
DroneXL, 12 May 2022
2019
Pilot
Wingcopter began drone operations in Malawi, flying medical supplies to remote health centres.
STAT Times, 21 June 2022Company-reported

03Promised vs delivered

What the maker said, and when

Dated targets the maker set in public, against what has happened since.

Said20 May 2022
12,000 drones across Africa within five years
Wingcopter and Continental Drones said they would build a network of 12,000 Wingcopter 198 drones across Africa over the next five years. FreightWaves, 20 May 2022
Still pending
We found no report of a network near that size as of October 2026.

04Safety and incidents

What has gone wrong

No crashes, recalls or regulator reports in our sources. That is not proof none happened; we add them when a regulator or trusted outlet reports one.

On video

What it looks like, at stage 4

Videos from the maker show the robot at its best. The stage comes from the dated record above, not from what a video shows.

Maker's video · 15 July 2024The Jet Business: Interview with Tom Plümmer, CEO Wingcopter

Maker's video · 5 Dec 2023SV Darmstadt 98: first soccer club to deliver fan merch by drone

Maker's video · 30 Nov 2023Groceries from the air: Wingcopter drones deliver everyday goods for the first time in Germany

Maker's video · 15 Oct 2022Wingcopter - Saving a baby's life

Maker's video · 14 Sept 2021Wingcopter Drones Fly Blood Samples in Germany

Maker's video · 27 April 2021WINGCOPTER 198 - the world's first triple-drop delivery drone

Every robot video

How we placed it

The rule, not an opinion

Stages are worked out by published rules from the dated milestones above. We never rate robots, and no maker can pay to change a stage.

5
Regulator-cleared or mass market
A regulator has cleared it where approval applies: FDA clearance or approval for a medical robot, a permit to run with no one aboard for a self-driving vehicle, or an FAA approval for routine drone flights. Or: Widely sold: sales in the hundreds of thousands, or a product category you can buy in ordinary shops.
4
Paying customersThis robot
Delivered to customers who pay for it, beyond a trial, or a paid service the public can use.
Placed by: Wingcopter began selling long-range LiDAR (laser mapping) survey kits for the Wingcopter 198. It says one flight can survey up to 60 km of long structures such as pipelines or power lines (7 March 2025).
3
Pilot
Working with a named customer in a real setting, as a trial.
2
Pre-orders
Orders, reservations or deposits taken, with nothing delivered yet.
1
Demo only
Shown in videos, staged events or a factory, with no units working for customers.

What we couldn't confirm. We could not confirm whether the Wingcopter 198 has won a full type certificate in the US, EU or Japan, or how many deliveries it makes today.

Sources

Cite this page

Robotics Verdict. “Wingcopter 198 (Wingcopter): how far has it got?” roboticsverdict.com/robots/wingcopter. Checked 19 October 2026.