The Italian Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy (MIMIT) and aerospace company Radia recently announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on the development of WindRunner, the next-generation ultra-large cargo aircraft, and related industrial development opportunities in Italy.
WindRunner is the world’s largest aircraft and is being developed to enable direct transport of outsized cargo to locations inaccessible through conventional logistics systems.
The program is designed to address critical gaps in global logistics and strategic mobility, supporting key sectors including defense, energy, industrial manufacturing, and aerospace. By reducing delivery timelines from months to days, or even hours, WindRunner will strengthen supply chain resilience while supporting both national security and commercial applications.
The aircraft’s unprecedented cargo volume and ability to operate from compacted dirt runways will create new solutions for strategic mobility, defense logistics, energy infrastructure deployment, aerospace and other manufacturing, and humanitarian response missions.
“As strategic mobility requirements continue to grow, allied nations will require new airlift capabilities,” said Mark Lundstrom, Founder and CEO of Radia. “No new strategic airlift aircraft has entered production anywhere in the world in more than a decade. WindRunner is being developed to help address that gap by providing a new capability for transporting mission-critical, outsized cargo. We are proud to strengthen our collaboration with MIMIT and with Italy’s aerospace and industrial sectors as we advance this transformational program.”
Through the Memorandum of Understanding, MIMIT and Radia will work together to engage Italy’s aerospace and industrial base in the WindRunner program, including potential contributions from organizations across manufacturing, engineering, and supply chain operations. The agreement will leverage Italy’s deep industrial expertise while supporting broader transatlantic industrial cooperation.
Italy already plays an important role in Radia’s growing international presence, with Rome serving as one of the company’s principal headquarters outside the United States.
More broadly, the agreement establishes a framework for institutional and technical collaboration in support of the program. In addition to coordinating with regional stakeholders, particularly in the Campania and Puglia regions, the broader objective will be to evaluate and facilitate industrial participation across Italy. While the Memorandum of Understanding establishes a framework for cooperation, any future investments or program decisions resulting from the agreement will remain subject to further analysis, approvals, and additional agreements.
Radia is a dual-use aerospace company developing WindRunner, the world’s largest cargo aircraft. WindRunner is being designed to enable the direct transportation of oversized cargo for defense, energy, commercial, aerospace, and humanitarian missions without requiring specialized infrastructure. Headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, and Rome, Italy, Radia is supported by a growing global network of partners and suppliers.
