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Manna pitches Tulsa Fire drone aeds, an idea Dublin never launched. DroneXL may earn a commission when you buy through links on its site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Manna Air Delivery drone. Photo credit: Manna Air Delivery The Tulsa Fire Department will get drone-delivered defibrillators and trauma kits from Manna Air Delivery under a pilot program the two presented on September 23 at Tulsa Tech's Lemley Memorial Campus, and the city pays nothing for it. TFD Captain Conrad Collison and Manna head of operations Stuart O'Callaghan presented it at the Tulsa Tech Week event. The target, per KJRH's report, is a start by early 2027, if not by the end of this year. Manna has flown consumer deliveries in Tulsa since August 12 from a single hub on Cherry Street, what Manna calls its first full-scale US operation after smaller Texas flights, years in Dublin and roughly 380,000 deliveries worldwide. Manna community and stakeholder relations manager Vincent Murray told Fox23 the emergency work has always been part of the plan and pointed to trials Manna ran with Ireland's National Ambulance Service. That ambulance service closed its talks with Manna last year, and the Dublin defibrillator service Manna proposed never launched. Tulsa Fire pays nothing for a pilot that runs through its own dispatch. The pilot costs the City of Tulsa nothing, a TFD official told KJRH on September 23. A 911 call goes through dispatch as usual, Murray said, and the fire department then calls Manna when a truck cannot get there fast enough or a crew has run out of trauma kits. Murray gave Fox23 the clock: 90 seconds of pre-flight checks, two to three minutes in the air, about four and a half minutes from the call to the drone landing. Collison, whose department already flies Skydio aircraft as first responders and put seven drones over a West Tulsa tank-farm fire in November 2024, told KJRH the appeal is speed: "They can be dropped into a situation where somebody needs it quick." TFD announced the partnership on September 15, eight days before the presentation. The aircraft stops flying in heavy rain and sits out winds above 20 knots (23 mph, 37 km/h), with a 33-knot (38 mph, 61 km/h) gust ceiling, per KJRH. Manna's Tulsa page caps any item at 8.8 lb (4 kg). Manna's Tulsa network is one hub flying and three on paper. Manna's one operating Tulsa base is the Cherry Street hub opened August 12. On August 25 it filed City of Tulsa permits for three more, at 21st and Sheridan, South Garnett Road and East 31st Street, each with a one-to-two-mile (1.6 to 3.2 km) radius, the Tulsa Flyer reported. Murray said the drones travel two miles (3.2 km) from base today and that Manna hopes to open 10 to 20 bases across the metro so a fire department call can be served as a network. In August the Tulsa Flyer reported the ambition as 20 to 30 bases across Tulsa and Broken Arrow. The jobs figure has moved the same way: Manna's July 8 announcement commits to more than 1,000 Tulsa jobs over three years, and two months earlier, on the XPONENTIAL stage in Detroit, CEO Bobby Healy told the room 2,000 to 3,000. On Tulsa, Manna's numbers arrive large and settle later. The Irish "trials" Were one simulated AED drop from a hub Manna is closing. Manna and the National Ambulance Service have one exercise on record. On December 6, 2024, a Manna drone flew a defibrillator from its Blanchardstown hub to a garden 10 minutes away by car in about two minutes, a simulation Dr. Glenn Curtin ran with the service, the Irish Times reported. Manna's newsroom and Irish press coverage through September 27 turn up no second one. Manna then proposed a Dublin 15 defibrillator service in November 2025. The National Ambulance Service told the Dublin Inquirer in December that it had held informal discussions with Manna and closed them out because the service did not progress. Manna said it would turn to Dublin Fire Brigade instead, which told the paper it had received no formal project details. Cardiologist Joseph Galvin of the HSE, who backed the proposal, put the potential at up to 900 lives a year if rolled out nationally. The March 2026 Rotunda-to-Connolly hospital flight DroneXL covered carried no blood; it was a second demonstration. The hub the defibrillator flew from is closing with the rest of Manna's Dublin 15 operation. Fingal County Council refused Manna's Coolmine hub on May 19, 2026, over noise evidence, a refusal Manna answered with a Trinity College acoustic study in June, and by July 1 the company had announced it was ceasing operations across Dublin 15, Blanchardstown included, blaming Ireland's planning process and the absence of a national drone delivery framework, Dublin People reported. Murray's word for it in Tulsa was "trials." "We're not here to take anyone by surprise," he told Fox23. DroneXL's take. A defibrillator in a back garden in under five minutes is the drone delivery I'll defend all day. Nobody needs a burrito by air. A cardiac arrest patient needs a shock before the engine arrives, and a fire department that already runs Skydio as a first responder is the right partner to put one on the other end of the dispatch line. What killed the idea in Dublin was planning and noise, never the medicine: Fingal's planners did not find the drones too loud, only that Manna hadn't proved they weren't. Tulsa is about to run the same test: the three east Tulsa hubs need City of Tulsa permits like Coolmine needed Fingal's, and until those clear, a free pilot covers whatever sits within two miles of Cherry Street. My read is that the AED is doing double duty here. O'Callaghan said at the presentation that the emergency work could improve public acceptance of the drones, and that is the plainer version of Murray's "always part of the plan." Fine. Then earn it in Tulsa: the Irish trial produced one simulated drop and a hub Manna is walking away from, so the number that matters to Tulsans is the first response time on a real call, not Blanchardstown's. Watch the three permits before you watch anything else. Sources: Fox23, KJRH, KTUL, Manna Air Delivery, Tulsa Flyer, Irish Times, Dublin Inquirer, Dublin People DroneXL uses automated tools to support research and source retrieval. All reporting and editorial perspectives are by Haye Kesteloo. Read its editorial standards. Editor-in-Chief Haye Kesteloo is the Editor in Chief and Founder of DroneXL.co, where he covers all drone-related news, DJI rumors and writes drone reviews, and of EVXL.co, for all electric vehicle news. Haye can be reached at haye @ dronexl.co or @hayekesteloo. Also on LinkedIn, Muck Rack, Instagram and YouTube. DroneXL reports under its editorial standards. Spotted an error? Read the corrections policy. How DroneXL uses automated tools.

Manna accelerates American expansion with Dallas drone delivery launch. August 13, 2026 By jan Irish drone delivery specialist Manna is preparing to launch commercial operations in Dallas, Texas, representing a major advancement in the company's aggressive United States expansion plans. The move comes as the aviation technology firm redirects focus toward the lucrative American market following a temporary pause of its Dublin-based services during the early months of 2024. The Dallas deployment signals Manna's commitment to establishing a substantial footprint across American metropolitan areas, where regulatory frameworks and market conditions have proven increasingly favorable for autonomous aerial delivery systems. This strategic pivot toward the United States market aligns with broader trends among Irish technology companies seeking international growth opportunities beyond European borders, a pattern actively supported by Enterprise Ireland through various market development initiatives. Manna's operational model utilizes autonomous aircraft to transport lightweight packages, primarily focusing on food delivery and small retail items. The technology enables rapid point-to-point delivery without ground-based transportation infrastructure, offering potential solutions to urban congestion and last-mile delivery challenges that plague traditional logistics networks. The company's aircraft operate within carefully defined airspace corridors, utilizing advanced navigation systems and automated flight controls to maintain safety standards. The Dublin service interruption earlier this year represented a tactical adjustment rather than a strategic retreat from Irish operations. Industry observers suggest the pause allowed Manna to reallocate resources toward American market penetration while refining operational protocols and technology platforms. The company has maintained that Irish operations remain central to its long-term vision, with Dublin serving as both a development testbed and operational hub for European activities. Texas has emerged as a particularly attractive destination for drone delivery companies, offering combination of favorable regulatory environment, substantial population density in metropolitan areas, and strong technological infrastructure. The state's approach to emerging aviation technologies has positioned it as a leading jurisdiction for unmanned aircraft systems deployment, attracting multiple companies in the autonomous delivery sector. Manna's American expansion reflects broader confidence in the commercial drone delivery market, which analysts project will experience substantial growth throughout the remainder of the decade. Regulatory developments at the Federal Aviation Administration have progressively opened pathways for expanded drone operations, including flights beyond visual line of sight under specific conditions. These regulatory advances create opportunities for companies like Manna to scale operations beyond limited pilot programs into comprehensive commercial services. The Irish company faces competition from well-funded American rivals and technology giants investing heavily in drone delivery capabilities. However, Manna's operational experience across multiple markets and its specialized focus on urban delivery environments provide potential competitive advantages. The company has accumulated significant flight hours and delivery completions through its various deployments, generating valuable operational data and technological refinements. From an Irish economic development perspective, Manna's international expansion demonstrates the global competitiveness of indigenous technology companies. Organizations like Enterprise Ireland have prioritized supporting Irish firms in establishing international market presence, particularly in high-growth sectors like aviation technology and autonomous systems. The company's ability to compete in the American market validates Ireland's position as a center for innovation in emerging technology categories. The Dallas launch will likely serve as a foundation for additional American metropolitan deployments, with Manna expected to announce further expansion plans as operational capabilities mature. The company's approach involves establishing initial operations in specific neighborhoods or districts before expanding coverage areas based on performance metrics and regulatory approvals. Manna has not disclosed specific timeline details for resuming comprehensive Dublin operations, though company representatives have indicated that Irish services remain a priority once American expansion achieves stable operational status. The balancing of resources between markets reflects common challenges facing scaling technology companies as they navigate growth opportunities across multiple geographies. The broader autonomous delivery sector continues attracting substantial venture capital investment despite economic headwinds affecting other technology categories. Investors view the elimination of human delivery drivers as a transformative opportunity for logistics economics, though questions about scalability, regulatory constraints, and public acceptance remain active areas of discussion within the industry.