Aerial transport and services company Drone Delivery Canada has won work with a Canadian government defense agency for an initial series of trials of the startup’s Canary UAV, which if successful could lead to an extension of the relationship.
Toronto-based Drone Delivery Canada said it has concluded accords with the nation’s Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security (IDEaS) program, which identifies, recruits, tests, and funds emerging tech offering potential adaptation advantages for the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces’ (DND/CAF). Under the agreement, the company’s Canary drone will undergo a six-month trial flying medical delivery missions, which will be extended to a year if considered successful.
Read: Drone Delivery Canada gets BVLOS approval for medical flights
If prolonged into the complete 12-month program, experimentation of the Canary UAV by the DND/CAF is expected to earn Drone Delivery Canada $1.2 million (nearly $885,000).
The agreement calls for Drone Delivery Canada’s Canary craft to demonstrate its capabilities and benefits in transporting medical payloads in both simulated situations, as well as real-world environments involving hostile climatic conditions.
The objective of the trials is to confirm whether the UAV – which the startup only began commercializing last June – can be integrated for deployment in both routine and critical medical missions DND/CAF units require. Drone Delivery Canada earned authorization earlier this year to fly the craft in beyond visible line of sight activities, and last month completed a series of tests under the company’s Care by Air program.
Read more: Drone Delivery Canada’s new Canary UAV aces a trio of trial flights
Drone Delivery Canada says Canary’s 4.5-kilogram payload maximum, over 20-kilometer flight capacity, sub-25-kilogram weight profile, and enhanced tech and weather resistance capacities will make it a perfect fit for the kind of urgent medical situations the DND/CAF faces. Those include transport of aid to remote, inaccessible, and higher risk locations when both speed and reliability of aerial assets are essential.
“We are proud to have been selected by the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces for the IDEaS program,” said Steve Magirias, CEO of Drone Delivery Canada. “This selection is a testament to our innovative technology and its potential to have a positive impact on the defence sector. We are confident that the Canary drone can play a vital role in advancing the DND/CAF’s mission-critical operations, providing them with enhanced logistical capabilities and a competitive advantage.”
Drone Delivery Canada operates using a combination of proprietary software and cutting-edge hardware, and makes those assets available to government and global corporate organizations as models of Software as a Service activities.
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