XTI shelves TriFan 600 program as it makes strategic shift to drones

XTI Aerospace Chairman and CEO Scott Pomeroy told investors the company has shifted its focus to its recent acquisition of Drone Nerds, a commercial drone distributor and service provider, and put its TriFan 600 VTOL program on what he called a “significant cost diet” while XTI conducts a strategic review of that business. 

“The Drone Nerds acquisition changed our focus, our priorities, and our resource allocation,” Pomeroy said during a shareholder town hall moderated by Hangar X Studios Executive Director John Ramstead recently. 

Pomeroy framed drones as a natural extension of XTI’s vertical-flight background. “We were built on VTOL expertise,” he said. “Now the foundation of all things vertical is drones.” 

He also emphasized Drone Nerds’ role as an enterprise integrator that matches customer requirements with aircraft, payloads, software, and support services.   “We are in the exalted position of evaluating drone solutions and bringing those solutions to the customers based on their articulated missional need and objective,” he said. “We’re optimizing for the mission, not for the model.” 

Pomeroy said XTI expects at least $160 million in revenue in 2026, a 30% increase over 2025. He also told investors the company expects to improve cash performance through 2026 and avoid having to seek new investor funding.   “Ultimately, what that translates to is monthly cash flow, positive monthly cash flow being achieved by end of year, and no capital raises for working capital for the company,” he said.  

In response to questions about new services, Pomeroy said Drone Nerds does not currently offer “drones as a service” or “drones in a box,” but he signaled a shift to those markets. “They are definitely areas of growth,” he said. “We believe drones as a service and drones in a box are something that you will likely see us forge into in the coming months.” 

On defense opportunities, Pomeroy said XTI submitted “several potential options” for Phase 1 of the DoD Drone Dominance program but did not advance. “We were not down selected,” he said, adding, “Expect us to be in Phase 2, expect us to be very active in any of the Drone Dominance programs that are out there.”   He also told investors the company did not include military revenue in its growth plan. “We’ve not factored any military into our growth numbers, but we do expect to see some reasonable and meaningful movement in the area of the US federal government,” he said. 

Pressed on the TriFan 600, Pomeroy said XTI is evaluating how to align the program with funding. “It’s preservation of the IP and it’s future,” he said. “For the time being, it is effectively been put on a diet, a significant cost diet.”  The XTI TriFan 600 is a proposed six-passenger, ducted-fan VTOL business aircraft that XTI had marketed as a “crossover” between a helicopter and a business airplane, aiming to combine vertical takeoff and landing with higher cruise speed and longer range than most eVTOL air-taxi designs.  

XTI’s published descriptions and program overviews said the concept would use three ducted fans for vertical lift and transition to forward flight, with a configuration intended to support point-to-point operations from helipads while still delivering business-aircraft-like performance. As part of its shift to drones, XTI said Drone Nerds has added the Antigravity A1, which the company describes as an all-in-one 8K 360-degree “creator drone,” to its product lineup. In the February 26, 2026, release, XTI positioned the A1 as a tool for professional creators who want “surround-view capture” in a single flight, using a dual-lens system mounted above and below the fuselage that the company says removes the drone from the final footage and lets users reframe shots in post-production. XTI said the A1 is designed to reduce the need for repeat flights and can pair with Vision Goggles for an immersive 360-degree viewing experience.  

Drone Nerds CEO Jeremy Schneiderman framed the product addition as part of a portfolio strategy aimed at efficiency and workflow improvements. “Our customers are continually looking for tools that improve efficiency while expanding what’s possible from the air,” he said, adding that the A1 enables “full-scene capture in a single flight” and gives creators “greater control in post-production.” Antigravity CEO Michael Shabun said the partnership will expand distribution and described the A1 as a new approach to “aerial storytelling” designed to give creators more flexibility while simplifying capture. XTI said the Antigravity A1 and accessories are available through Drone Nerds’ online store. The post XTI shelves TriFan 600 program as it makes strategic shift to drones appeared first on AeroTime.

Go to Source