Dive Brief:

• Thanks to reporting by the Atlantic, the secret is out: Google is working on developing delivery drones in its Google X labs. The program is dubbed "Project Wing."

• The company has been at work on Project Wing for two years and developed “tail sitter” technology, creating a plane-helicopter hybrid that takes off vertically but can fly horizontally. The drone is being tested in Australia, where commercial-drone flying rules are more lax.

• Meanwhile, Amazon is leading a newly formed coalition of like-minded companies to increase lobbying efforts in Congress and with the Federal Aviation Administration to relax rules on flying commercial drones. No word in reporting by USA Today whether Google is part of the group.

Dive Insight:

Few will be surprised by the revelation of Google’s secret drone program; it’s been long-rumored. It will be a surprise to some that the program has been under way for two years. Indeed, the reveal is coming at a moment when the “Project Wing” drones are at a pretty impressive stage in their development.

In addition to the details revealed in the Atlantic magazine, Google released a video of an elegantly soaring drone delivering first aid supplies and goodies to appreciative recipients. It’s an example of why many of Google’s efforts are also known as Moonshots. Now the delivery by drone game is on between Amazon and Google.