While the logistics sector is looking forward to using drone aircraft for package delivery in highly localized settings, a California company is working on a bigger dream:  Using drones to ship freight across the Pacific Ocean.

Natilus Inc. hopes the next big thing in shipping will be its large autonomous drones.  The company is planning to test a 30-foot (9-meter) prototype drone before the end of the year.  After that, the concept is projected to expand to a 25-meter aircraft that will begin flying routes from Los Angeles to Hawaii in 2019.  The third step is a giant 45-meter drone with a cargo capacity of greater than 90 metric tons that would be capable of moving freight across the Pacific Ocean more cheaply than conventional piloted cargo planes and faster than cargo ships, from L.A. to China.

The designers hope to hold down costs by flying at around 20,000 feet (6,100 meters) and going much slower than a conventional aircraft.  "Commercial pilot airplanes don't want to fly slower because it would take forever to get there and pilot fatigue becomes an issue," said Natilus CEO Aleksey Matyushev to America's NBC News.  "For drones, that is not the case." 

Matyushev calculates that no crews and slow speeds will shave 50 percent off of the price of standard air freight. A 747 takes around eleven hours to cross the ocean.  The Natilus drone would take 30 hours - still much faster than the three weeks it takes a cargo ship to cross.

The Natilus start-up has set an ambitious timetable for achieving these goals.  Is it possible?  There are many hurdles to clear.  The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is still developing regulations for small commercial drones, not 45-meter unmanned aircraft.  The vehicles have to be designed and constructed and then will have to pass rigorous certification.  After that, there's the question of whether governments or society will even accept the idea of robotic aircraft putting flight crews out of work.