Long-range VTOL drones for wildfire and defence.
Airpower for the missions that matter most. One scalable autonomous platform serving two critical missions — rapid wildfire suppression and persistent aerial defence of sovereign airspace. Designed, built and flight-tested in Alberta.
One platform.
Two critical missions.
The same proven architecture serves two of the most urgent aerial challenges of the decade. Choose a mission.
Aerial wildfire suppression
Large-scale UAV firefighting delivering over 500,000 litres per day — rapid, autonomous, day or night, no open water required.
Explore wildfireSentinel Defence Network
Falcon-M2 interceptor sentinels providing persistent detect-track-neutralize coverage of contested low airspace.
Explore defenceA common core,
engineered to scale
Every WaterStrider aircraft shares one architecture — fixed-wing efficiency, VTOL freedom, internal-combustion endurance — scaling from the flight-proven M1 to the heavy-lift M3 HH.
M1
Prototype · Proof of platform
The origin airframe. Built and flight-tested to validate the hybrid fixed-wing + VTOL configuration and the internal-combustion powertrain.
- StatusFlown
- RoleValidation
- PowertrainICE · proven
M2
Mid-size · Multi-role workhorse
The production platform in active development — payload-agnostic mission bay for suppression support, ISR, mapping and the Falcon-M2 defence configuration.
- Range800 km
- MissionsMulti-role
- VariantFalcon-M2
M3 HH
Heavy-lift · Wildfire suppression
The heavy hauler. Up to 1,000 kg of suppressant per sortie, autonomous precision drops day or night — over 500,000 litres per day per system.
- Payload1,000 kg
- Throughput500k L/day
- Ops24/7
Built for real conditions
Fixed-wing + VTOL
Cruise efficiency with launch-anywhere freedom. No runways, no infrastructure.
Long-range & heavy-lift
Internal-combustion endurance and lift that battery multirotors can't match — up to 800 km.
Payload-agnostic
A modular mission bay reconfigures for suppression, ISR, mapping or defence.
Autonomous fleet-ready
Coordinated multi-aircraft operations designed in from day one.
Shared architecture
One core scales from the mid-size M2 to the heavy-lift M3 HH — one supply chain, one stack.
Austere by design
Difficult terrain, day or night, remote environments where nothing else operates.
A large and
expanding market
Record wildfire seasons are driving government procurement while a historic surge of capital flows into dual-use defence autonomy. WaterStrider sits at the intersection.
Active and
moving fast
- CompleteM1 prototype built and flight-tested
- CompletePowertrain development completed
- In progressM2 platform in active development
- EngagedEngineering partners engaged
- UnderwayGrant & funding programs underway
Path to scale
Complete M2 development
Initial deployments — commercial + pilot programs
Expand into defence applications
Develop the M3 HH heavy platform
Scale manufacturing & fleet deployment
Sovereign Canadian capability
Designed, engineered and built in Alberta. WaterStrider keeps critical aerial capability — and its intellectual property — in Canadian hands, serving provincial wildfire agencies, federal defence priorities and allied partners.
Let's build it together.
We're engaging strategic partners, governments and investors to bring scalable UAV systems to the field.