Dronamics to take part in drone healthcare project

Dronamics will take part in a project designed to use drones to make delivery of healthcare services in Scotland more efficient.

CAELUS (Care & Equity – Healthcare Logistics UAS Scotland) is a consortium led by AGS Airports that will develop and trial the UK’s first national distribution network using drones to transport essential medicines, blood, organs, and other medical supplies throughout Scotland.

The CAELUS consortium is in the process of establishing a national drone delivery network for medical supplies across Scotland.

CAELUS, which consists of 16 partners, including AGS Airports (Glasgow and Aberdeen Airports), NHS Scotland, the University of Strathclyde, National Air Traffic Services (NATS), is developing a national drone network for medical distribution in Scotland.

Middle-mile cargo drone developer and operator Dronamics will be collaborating with the consortium to power time-critical medical deliveries in the middle-mile using their “Black Swan” cargo drone, capable of carrying up to 350kg at a range of up to 2,500km. The flight trials are scheduled to be completed by 2024.

Fiona Smith, AGS Airports group head of aerodrome strategy and CAELUS project director, said: “The CAELUS project is set to revolutionise the way in which healthcare services are delivered in Scotland. A drone network can ensure critical medical supplies can be delivered more efficiently, it can reduce waiting times for test results and, more importantly, it can provide equity of care between urban and remote rural communities.”

Svilen Rangelov, chief executive and co-founder of Dronamics, said: “This is an excellent opportunity for us to kick-off operations in the UK by leveraging our authorisation experience in the EU with EASA. The flight trials for NHS Scotland would also validate our ongoing product development towards delivering medical goods. We have seen that our solution could be vital for remote communities in Scotland, drastically decreasing the transit time for medical supplies.”

The consortium has successfully acquired over £10m in funding from the Future Flight Challenge at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

Last month, Dronamics signed a deal with composite manufacturer Quickstep Holdings as it continues to prepare for the launch of operations.

Rebecca Jeffrey www.aircargonews.net