Freight takes flight: £1.2m fund backs drones to connect isolated parts of the UK FREIGHT OR FLIGHT Drones will take to the sky in the Orkney Islands, as part of a £1.2m funding package to encourage more innovative and cleaner freight delivery solutions across the country. Skysports Deliveries – which provides infrastructure for the air mobility industry – won £150,000 and will use the drones to “improve island to island connectivity,” and [...]
BT: Telecoms giant enters the drone market in £5m deal FLY HIGH BT, Britain’s telecoms giant has entered the automated drone business. Earlier today, Etc., the incubation team in BT Group’s Digital unit announced that it was entering a £5m deal with Altitude Angel. Altitude Angel is a Reading based technology provider and the deal is supposed to scale up UK’s automated flying infrastructure. The two businesses [...]
Ukraine’s secret weapon: High-tech drone ‘the Punisher’ is wreaking havoc far behind Russian enemy lines secret weapon A re-deployable drone called ‘The Punisher’ is increasingly making life difficult for the Russian Army by destroying crucial supply lines. The relatively small, nimble drone can travel up to 30 miles behind Russian enemy lines and is extremely hard to detect. When flying at about 1,300 feet, it can stay up in the air for [...]
Drone industry to face “cliff edge threat” without government support, expert warns December 7, 2021 The UK drone industry is on the verge of facing a “cliff edge threat”, following the expiration of the EU’s accreditation scheme in December 2022. According to Robert Garbett, a leading advisor on drone technology and chief executive of consultancy firm Drone Major, the UK Government needs to speed up post-Brexit drone accreditation. UK manufacturers [...]
Think tank calls for a drone minister to unlock sector’s dividends October 20, 2021 UK think tank the Entrepreneurs Network has called on the UK Government to appoint a drone minister to oversee the sector’s growth and unlock its potential. “Our recommendation to create a junior ministerial role with specific responsibility for the drone economy comes from a desire to see this exciting and important sector treated with due [...]
UK Navy boasts ‘battle winning’ drone, day after Ukraine defence deal June 24, 2021 The Royal Navy has today boasted how its new drone, which can monitor an area larger than Greater Manchester, has come ‘leaps and bounds’ during ‘amphibious assaults’. Testing the airborne surveillance, known as Puma, in the Baltic and the North Sea, lieutenant Ash Loftus and Puma flight commander said the Navy’s tech is advancing into [...]
Oil price through the roof following Saudi drone attack March 8, 2021 Oil price have eased back off their mornign high of over $70 a barrel, which followed a drone attack on Saudi Arabian oil facilities over the weekend. Saudi officials said on state television that the ttack hit one of the oil storage yards at the Ras Tanura port in the east of the country, with [...]
Police to get more anti-drone powers in fresh crackdown January 27, 2020 The government is planning a fresh crackdown on drones, after a number of near misses in the sky. Ministers hope to give police new powers to land, inspect and seize drones under a bill which has its second reading in Parliament today. Drone pilots could also face on-the-spot fines for failing to prove they have [...]
Amazon to deliver packages by drone ‘within months’ June 6, 2019 Amazon will begin delivering packages by drone within months, fulfilling a goal that has eluded the world’s biggest online retailer for years. The new fully-electric drones take off and land vertically like a helicopter. They use visual, thermal and ultrasonic sensors to fly themselves and can avoid objects in the air and on the ground. [...]
Extinction Rebellion threatens to use drones in 10-day Heathrow airport shutdown in third runway protest May 31, 2019 Climate protest group Extinction Rebellion has threatened to shut down London’s Heathrow airport for as long as 10 days this summer in protest at plans to build a third runway. Read more: Police charge 71 in relation to Extinction Rebellion protests The climate change activists will protest at the airport on 18 June before a [...]