UK

A group of next-generation UK aviation tech companies and associated organizations have released a white paper urging the government and national regulators to move quickly to create rules enabling effective integration of beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flights by drones and other craft into the airspace, and unleashing their full potential economic contributions that risk being undermined if such activity is held back.

A new series of trials is set to begin in the UK today using drones to transport patient samples, medicines, and other materials between healthcare facilities – a specialized form of UAV deployment that’s swiftly multiplying around the globe.

UK telecoms company BT is testing a powerful new antenna technology that, once mounted on a high-altitude platform station (HAPS) drone, is expected to provide 4G and 5G services of up to 150 Mbps over areas as large as 15,000 square kilometers.

The drone services division of UK delivery and vertiport company Skyports has announced it will be integrating the heavy payload electric vertical takeoff and landing UAVs by manufacturer Pyka into its fleet, thereby considerably expanding the goods its craft can haul in a single flight.

Another phase of drone development activity has been initiated in the UK, with the Open Skies Cornwall program assembling nearly a dozen partners to test use cases and recruit additional participants to facilitate regular UAV services along the southwest England peninsula.

Hooligans used to be the biggest risk to people attending professional soccer matches in England, but a growing concern these days is possible frostbite while waiting for games to resume after being suspended by drones flying in the stadium.

The UK is continuing its drive to broaden the use of drones of all sizes and purposes by its armed forces, most recently with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) contracting Israeli UAV manufacturer Elbit Systems to supply its portable Magni-X reconnaissance craft.

A pair of innovative European aviation companies have partnered up to earn a chance to develop a very heavy-lift drone for the UK’s Royal Navy – a craft the duo says will carry supply payloads of up to 700 kilograms to offshore ships.

A man in the UK is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty this week to having endangered a World War II-era Royal Air Force plane by flying his drone near the craft during an historic airshow event last July.

UK companies BT and unified traffic management (UTM) specialist Altitude Angel have struck a deal, combining their work building the nation’s 165-mile drone superhighway based on an agreement that gives the telecom giant an equity stake in the start-up.

The UK’s Royal Navy has long pursued a variety of UAVs and related systems to assist and improve operations of its forces around the world, but now its specialized aviation tech unit has taken a step further by finally producing a drone of its very own.

In another indication of how the effectiveness of smaller UAVs in conflict situations like Ukraine’s defense against invading Russian troops is leading modern armies to integrate the craft in ever larger numbers, the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) has ordered $156.6 million in portable drones for deployment by its armed forces.

German electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft developer Lilium says it has secured a deal with a UK air services provider for 10 confirmed orders for the Pioneer Edition of its advanced air mobility (AAM) vehicles, and an option for another 10 – nearly half of the 50 luxury planes the company plans to produce.

A UK consortium of companies has launched a two-year, high-intensity autonomous drone operations (HALO) project to develop and test an uncrewed aircraft traffic management system (UTM) capable of integrating around the clock UAV flights at London’s Heathrow Airport.

Although not ready for deployment just yet, a new UK anti-drone weapon known as DragonFire has delivered some impressive results in testing at the very time people in Ukraine are hoping for new tech capable of neutralizing the brutal missile and UAV attacks on the nation’s cities.

British Transport Police are teaming up with Network Rail – the owner and operator of most of the UK’s train infrastructure – in deploying drones to combat what has become a very time- and money-consuming problem in recent years: delays due to trespassers on or around tracks.

In response to the summer’s record heat waves amid an enduring period of drought, UK utility Anglian Water moved to ramp up its use of drones to spot pipeline leaks faster – an effort that has already spared the company and its customers countless gallons of expensive wasted seepage.

Europe’s middle-mile drone delivery specialist Dronamics is moving to make its flagship Black Swan UAVs entirely carbon neutral through a linkup with UK company Zero Petroleum to supply fossil-free fuel for future aerial cargo transport.

Drone pilots in central London hoping to capture aerial footage of this week’s historic royal funeral events are having to change their plans after officials banned all UAV flights above the heart of the capital until the queen’s burial Monday.

The consortium promising to build the world’s first nationwide medical drone transportation network in Scotland has taken another step toward attaining that goal with the official kickoff of the project’s second phase of activity. 

Police officers in England’s south coast city of Bournemouth confiscated at least seven drones operating illegally within the no-fly zone established during a multi-day airshow that wrapped up yesterday.