The Drone Industry’s Missing Link? A One-Stop Fleet Service

Australia’s Drone Forge bets big on simplifying enterprise adoption

For all the hype around drones, scaling operations remains a logistical nightmare. Procurement, insurance, maintenance—each step is a patchwork of vendors and paperwork. Enter Drone Forge, an Australia-based startup with a radical solution: DF Fleet 1, the world’s first turn-key drone fleet, slated for delivery in 2026. It’s not just hardware; it’s a full-service ecosystem designed to turn drones into plug-and-play infrastructure.

“Drones shouldn’t be a DIY project for enterprises,” says CEO Thomas Symes. “We’re packaging them like cloud services—subscription-based, fully managed, and enterprise-grade.”

The timing is strategic. The global drone industry is projected to hit $90.7 billion by 2030, yet adoption is bottlenecked by fragmented support systems. Drone Forge’s answer? A bundled offering covering procurement, specialist insurance (underwritten by Lloyd’s of London), and end-to-end fleet management, including packaging, tracking, and maintenance. Governments, commercial operators, and even investors are the target clients—anyone who wants drones without the operational headaches.

From Perth to the world

Founded in August 2024, Drone Forge is moving fast. The startup already counts Airbus, Anavia, and DJI (as its authorized Australian reseller) as partners, and recently opened a headquarters near Perth. Its ambitions stretch across sectors: emergency response teams needing rapid deployment, utilities inspecting power lines, mining companies mapping terrain, and defense contractors testing surveillance fleets. Symes envisions drones becoming as standardized as data centers—a utility, not a novelty.

“The industry’s stuck in the ‘buy the gadget, figure out the rest’ phase,” notes an Airbus executive. “Drone Forge is solving the boring-but-critical stuff that holds back ROI.”

Critics question whether enterprises will pay a premium for convenience, but Symes argues the math is compelling. “One drone is cheap. Fifty, with compliance and downtime? That’s where we save clients 30% in hidden costs.” With DF Fleet 1’s 2026 launch looming, the startup’s bet is clear: the future of drones isn’t in the skies—it’s in the back office.