Germany

Telecom giant Vodafone is making the process of ordering drone inspections as simple as ordering groceries online — but only in Germany.

German air electric takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft developer Lilium has taken another step toward securing funding it needs to push its battery-fueled jet toward commercialization, with the announcement that German officials have resumed work toward freeing up €100 million ($108 million) in loans to the company.

It may not be ready to rival Amazon as a teaming marketplace where virtually any legal product can be bought and transported rapidly, but Germany’s LieferMichel drone delivery project spiriting goods to remote communities is starting to attract an impressive array of participating retailers.

German UAV craft manufacturer and transport company Wingcopter has announced the extension and expansion of its delivery project providing groceries to small, remote villages using drones and e-bikes.

Commercial drone systems developer Matternet says it has been selected to operate medical deliveries between Berlin hospitals and laboratories in a project that will involve the first ever beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) UAV flights over the German capital.

German air taxi developer Lilium has announced the passing of two major milestones with the production launch of its electric vertical takeoff and landing jet (eVTOL), and an agreement to explore the craft’s operation in partnership with the nation’s flag carrier airline, Lufthansa.

Ascendant drone tech company Quantum-Systems is extending its involvement with Ukraine – and the nation’s defense against invading Russian forces – with the establishment of a research and development center in the country’s tech incubator initiative, according to the Ministry of Digital Transformation in Kyiv.

Its reputation resplendent in large part due to the critical performance of its tech in service of Ukraine’s defense against invading Russian forces, German drone and robotics company Quantum-Systems has completed an eye-opening €63.6 million ($66.8 million) Series B funding round, pushing its total financing beyond the €100 million ($106 million) threshold.

Innovative Swiss UAV-glider company Jedsy is partnering with German medical group Asklepios Kliniken in a project to create a broad network of drone delivery routes between hospitals and labs that analyze patient blood, tissue, and other samples.

German drone manufacturer Quantum-Systems says it will soon be supplying Ukraine defense forces with over 100 more of its specialized data gathering Vector drones in a deal underwritten by Germany’s government as part of its continued support of the nation against Russia’s invasion.

German fixed-wing drone manufacturer and aerial services company Wingcopter is partnering with the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences to test on-demand delivery of goods using UAVs and cargo e-bicycles to people in villages and other remote rural communities.

The German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection is funding a new three-year research project on the use of passenger-grade air taxis and cargo drones to complement helicopter and ship deployments when servicing offshore wind farms. The idea is to fly technicians and materials out to sea using drones, and reduce the time and cost it takes to service a wind turbine.

In Germany, about 75,000 people experience sudden cardiac arrest every year – and only 11% survive. This survival rate is linked directly to an ambulance’s response time and early defibrillation. But with ambulances taking nine to 15 minutes on average to reach a rural area, and more remote areas being completely inaccessible by road, a team of students decided to come up with a means of faster intervention. Enter, a remote-controlled rescue drone with a defibrillator on board.

Germany-based drone startup Beagle Systems wants to offer geospatial data users on-demand aerial imagery at resolutions up to 50 times higher than currently available from commercial satellites. And it wants to do that remotely, much more quickly.

Germany-based urban air mobility solutions (UAM) company Volocopter has successfully completed the first public flight demonstration of its electric heavy-lift drone, VoloDrone. The three-minute test flight was planned in collaboration with logistics company DB Schenker to showcase how delivery drones can be integrated into the logistics supply chain for end-to-end cargo transport.

A Wingcopter drone recently flew a distance of 16 miles (26 kilometers), transporting blood samples nearly twice as fast as ground-based vehicles, to showcase how the use of drones could improve emergency medical care in rural areas significantly.

The German government has signed accords with authorities in four localities designed to kick the nation’s urban air mobility UAM) development into higher gear. The move follows efforts across Europe, Asia, and by some US states to both enhance and coordinate emerging means of UAM at faster rates.

Our readers love a good drone show. And while this one isn’t the most dazzling display of lights we’ve seen, it does have some new ideas and set a Guinness world record: Most consecutive formations by a single group of drones.

Two Yemeni men have appealed their case to a German court after they alleged their relatives were killed in US drone strikes that took off from the US-operated Ramstein Air Base in Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany.

Germany’s Euro Hawk drone is set to be delivered to the Bundeswehr Military History Museum in Berlin after a rocky lifetime. While the airframe heads to the museum, the rest of the parts are being transferred to NATO for use as spare parts.

Earlier this week, the top German court said U.S. drone operations based in Germany aren’t required to comply with international law. The decision falls back onto a 2015 decision that found Germany to have satisfied its legal duties and ensure it fulfills “foreign and defense policy interests.”