Natilus’ Matyushev joins drone webinar 

The Air Cargo Next editorial team is pleased to announce that Aleksey Matyushev, chief executive and co-founder at Natilus, will join the webinar “The Role of Drones in the Future of Air Cargo,” which will livestream on Tuesday, March 26, at 11 a.m. ET.   

Learn more and register for the free webinar here.   

Matyushev will discuss drone delivery use cases, advancements in drone technology, impediments to and benefits of cargo drone usage and more. The panel for the webinar will also include Kenneth Chircop, general manager at Dronamics, and Steve Magirias, chief executive at Drone Delivery Canada.  

Natilus, founded in 2016, is a San Diego-based autonomous aircraft developer. Ameriflight signed an agreement in January 2023 with Natilus to purchase 20 of its Kona aircraft, a short-haul feeder uncrewed drone with a payload capacity of 3.4 tonnes. 

“The aviation industry is facing the challenge of a lack of pilots in the workforce and the talent pipeline is continuing to shrink,” Matyushev told Air Cargo Next. “This is especially true for air cargo, as many pilots seek careers in passenger travel, which is supposed to double over the next 10 years.  

“Autonomous cargo aircraft will be a game-changer in the logistics industry, providing an efficient and cost-effective solution for shipping goods around the world, including regions that have been difficult or impossible for a human pilot to access,” he said. “It’s crucial for air cargo industry leaders to understand the [drone] technologies, the myriad opportunities they enable and the regulatory hurdles we need to overcome together.” 

Matyushev co-founded Natilus in 2016. Early in his career, he was the lead aerodynamicist at Piper Aircraft, helping to develop the PiperJet Altaire, the M600 and other designs. He later served as the aerodynamics lead on military UAV systems at Kratos Defense. Additionally, through his consulting practice, Matyushev has supported general aviation and UAS programs in aircraft design, performance, stability and control, flight testing, loads, computational fluid dynamics and certification.  

Register here for Air Cargo Next’s free webinar, “The Role of Drones in the Future of Air Cargo,” on Tuesday, March 26, at 11 a.m. ET.