UK is set to have world's biggest automated drone superhighway

UK is set to have world's biggest automated drone superhighway
July 18, 2022, 10:01 am

UK drones will be used on the 164-mile Skyway project connecting towns and cities, including Cambridge and Rugby - Photo. Pixabay

The UK is set to become home to the world's largest automated drone superhighway within the next two years, the BBC reported.

It is part of a £273m funding package for the aerospace sector which will be revealed by Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng on Monday (July 18).

Mr Kwarteng is to announce the news at the Farnborough International Airshow - the first to be held since 2019, according to the BBC.

The drones will be used on the 164-mile Skyway project connecting towns and cities, including Cambridge and Rugby.

Dave Pankhurst, director of drones at BT, said the project was working alongside the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to ensure safety. BT is one of the partners involved in the collaboration.

Aviation projects include a plan to use drones to provide regular deliveries of mail and medicine to the Isles of Scilly, and to distribute medicines across Scotland, potentially enabling some cancer patients to be treated in their local community - Photo. Pixabay

BT is one of the partners involved in the collaboration.

"The CAA is part of all of these future flight projects. It is part of all of these activities, validating the progress and making sure they're safe."

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"The way they work as an organisation is very evidence-based," he said. "Safety is just paramount in this industry, but importantly, nothing happens without the regulator actually signing it off.

He said its research showed that people are more likely to accept a drone if they know it is providing a safety service.

Skynet aims to connect the airspace above Reading, Oxford, Milton Keynes, Cambridge, Coventry and Rugby by mid-2024, and will receive more than £12m.

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A total of £105.5m of the UK government's funding will be specifically for projects relating to "integrated aviation systems and new vehicle technologies", including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) such as drones.

These projects include a plan to use drones to provide regular deliveries of mail and medicine to the Isles of Scilly, and to distribute medicines across Scotland, potentially enabling some cancer patients to be treated in their local community.

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