Unmanned aerial vehicle

An unmanned aerial vehicle comprising:

• a flight system for producing thrust to maneuver the unmanned aerial vehicle comprising:
• one or more flight rotors defining a plane passing through each flight rotor and a thrust direction generally perpendicular to the plane;
• and
• one or more electric motor for driving the one or more flight rotors;
• a cargo area for coupling to or receiving a load;
• and
• a load system for providing thrust additional to the thrust provided by the flight system to thereby lift a load coupled to or received in the cargo area, the load system comprising:
• a plurality of gas turbine propulsion systems fixed with N-fold rotational symmetry in the plane of the flight rotors around a center of the unmanned aerial vehicle, wherein N is the number of gas turbine propulsion systems, wherein the plurality of gas propulsion systems are provided at fixed diverging angles of up to 20 degrees with respect to the thrust direction of the flight rotors to direct a jet plume from each of the plurality of gas propulsion systems away from a load coupled to or received in the cargo area;
• a controller configured to control the flight system and the load system, such that the load system provides a force equivalent to a weight applied by a load attached to a connection point;
• and
• a load sensor in communication with the controller, the load sensor being configured to provide a signal indicative of the weight applied by the load attached to the connection point and coupled to or received in the cargo area, wherein the controller is configured to control the load system in response to the signal indicative of the weight applied by the load to the connection point.