Company launches drone repair subsidiary Fortress UAV

Fortress UAV—a new repair service for commercial and consumer unmanned aerial vehicles—has been launched as a subsidiary of Fortress Solutions, based in Plano, Texas.

The company supports out-of-warranty and damage repairs for DJI and Yuneec drones in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Fortress UAV estimates that up to 30 percent of new consumer drone pilots crash their drones within the first week of purchase, resulting in damage not covered by the manufacturer’s warranty.

Fortress Solutions has been involved in electronic repair since 2002. With three facilities in the U.S.—one in Leesburg, Florida, and the other in Lenexa, Kansas—and more than 220 employees in repair services, Fortress UAV expects to become the largest and most comprehensive company for drone repair in North America.

Currently, many drone repair facilities are located in hobby shops or run by drone enthusiasts. Fortress UAV believes it’s uniquely positioned to serve the repair and logistics demand of the growing drone industry.

“We have been eyeing the expansion into drone repair and logistics and preparing for the launch of Fortress UAV for the better part of a year,” said Brendon Mills, president and CEO of Fortress UAV and Fortress Solutions. “We have expanded and trained our staff to address this unique market, and silently launched our services in February.”

The company cited a recent report by Gartner Inc. on trends in personal and commercial drone production and use. According to the report, global market revenue is forecast to increase 34 percent to $6 billion in 2017 and then grow to more than $11.2 billion by 2020. In addition, the report said the number of drones produced will rise to nearly 3 million this year, a 39 percent increase over 2016.

Fortress UAV is an authorized dealer and repair service center for Yuneec drones and an authorized dealer for DJI. Fortress UAV repairs all variants of DJI Phantom, DJI Mavic, DJI Inspire, Yuneec Typhoon and Breeze products, and the DJI Matrice 600 commercial drone. In the near future, Fortress UAV will also repair DJI Spark and the Matrice 200/210 products.

Fortress UAV provides free estimates on drone repairs, but requires users to send in their drones for evaluation. Customers receive a detailed estimate for each repair and can follow their repair process through the Fortress UAV website portal. Some drones can be repaired and returned in as few as two days.