Exedy's Michigan-Built Ayre CX Spray Drone Opens Reservations Amid US Supply Squeeze

The bottleneck in US spray drones right now isn't demand. It's whether the next aircraft can reach the farm at all. Exedy Drones is betting on that gap with the Ayre CX, a mid-size spray drone assembled in Southeast Michigan that is now open for reservations, with first deliveries targeted for spring 2027.

Reservations without a delivery date

Exedy is a Michigan-based company owned by EXEDY Globalparts Corporation, part of the Japanese automotive drivetrain manufacturer EXEDY Corp. It is one of several companies trying to build domestic drone capability after the FCC's December 2025 decision to stop sales of new foreign-made drone models in the US.

Reservations cost $1,000 and cover the first 500 aircraft. Of that, $750 is refundable until the customer converts the reservation into a purchase deposit. A reservation holds a numbered place in the production line through one of Exedy's authorized dealers. Scott Binder, the company's VP of engineering, operations and technology, said the company isn't attaching a delivery date yet. Instead, the aircraft will move through published milestones, starting with field validation, then spray validation, then a production build. Exedy plans to publish each one as it's reached, so buyers can see results before they commit to a purchase. That's a more transparent sequence than most buyers are used to, and it puts the risk of an unproven platform on the company rather than the customer.

What's in the Ayre CX

The Ayre CX carries a 50-liter tank, roughly 13 gallons. Exedy says it uses locally and globally sourced components, with software coded in the US and data stored on US servers. Binder said the bulk of parts are sourced from the US, though some still come from overseas. The company says it has recently raised its US content "by a large percentage," which puts it ahead of the onshoring schedule it originally gave the FCC. The goal for the initial release is as much domestic content as possible, including flight controller firmware and ground control station software built entirely in the US.

Cost is the trade-off Binder doesn't dodge. An American-built drone will carry a higher upfront price, he said, and the company would rather have the return-on-investment conversation than a sticker-price one, since downtime is what really costs operators. Exedy hasn't released pricing. Binder said the company is "careful not to price the aircraft out of reach."

For the first phase, Exedy is working with about 20 dealer groups operating roughly 30 locations. Binder said the dealer network will grow with production rather than ahead of it, which is a sensible way to avoid stranding buyers if build schedules slip.

Two approvals, two different questions

Buyers often mix up two separate clearances, and Binder spent time untangling them. The Ayre CX received FCC Conditional Approval in July (DA 26-768). That approval means the aircraft's critical components can be imported, sold and operated in the US. It follows a review by the Department of War of the aircraft, its bill of materials and its supply chain.

NDAA compliance is a different test. The National Defense Authorization Act rules govern what federal agencies, and projects paid for with federal money, are allowed to buy. An aircraft can be legal to fly on a private farm and still fall outside the rules for a publicly funded project. Operators who spend money on a drone should check which of the two matters for their work.

Why downtime drives the buying decision

Spray drones went from novelty to essential equipment quickly, and many operators built their businesses on aircraft whose supply they don't control. Binder put the cost of idle time into concrete terms. An operator covering 250 acres a day at about $15 an acre could lose roughly $26,000 in work during a week spent waiting on a part.

He said operators want three things: reliability, meaning support they can reach and parts that arrive when needed; accessibility, meaning aircraft and parts they can actually get; and compliance, meaning a drone that is cleared for sale and use in the US so they aren't buying an open question. Binder described the Ayre CX as a mid-size machine that suits operations handling a mix of field sizes across a season with lighter support requirements. He added that Exedy is developing both larger and smaller payload options.

A market still short on supply

The American Spray Drone Coalition describes the US market as "very much in flux" after the FCC's recent actions. A proposed FCC rule targeting foreign-made "military grade" drones could effectively bar sales of already-approved models from leading Chinese manufacturers such as DJI. DJI has said that a separate series of customs holds on its shipments, made on forced-labor grounds, are "categorically false" claims.

Other Chinese manufacturers, including XAG, EAVision and Talos, have picked up some of DJI's share, and US companies are building domestic production alone or with overseas partners. Demand still outstrips supply. ASDC president Eric Ringer said US sales of new spray drones fell by roughly 60% in 2025, from 8,950 units in 2024 to 3,711. "That was not because of a lack of demand," he said. "That was because of a lack of supply."

Here's the thing: Exedy's approach is a bet that buyers will trade a slower, verified path for a supply chain they can see into. Whether the milestone publishing holds up through spring 2027 will show whether a domestic spray drone can earn trust on performance rather than just on origin. Watch the first validation results and whether the dealer network grows at the pace of production.