A £3.7 MILLION project to trial “potentially game-changing” drone technology in Jersey airspace is set to start within weeks.
Uncrewed aircraft with a two-metre wingspan will take to the skies within a dedicated area off the north coast during a series of test flights in April and June.
If successful, the drones could eventually be used for deliveries, search-and-rescue operations, fisheries patrols and even as air taxis across the Channel Islands.
The trial, part of the UK’s Agile Integrated Airspace System (ALIAS) programme, will test the safety of drone technology and assess if there is potential to use unmanned aircraft to improve the supply chain between Jersey and the UK and Europe – such as carrying medical equipment and commercial cargo.
The drones, which weigh between 10kg and 25kg, will be flown over a safe-zone to test whether they comply with commands and instructions, operate safely if they lose contact with the operator, and comply with air traffic control procedures in the same way that a pilot would.
Former Jersey Airport director Robin MacRae previously described the technology as “potentially game-changing”, saying it was a “great opportunity” for the Channel Islands.
Tony Moretta, chief executive of Digital Jersey, said: “We are going to see drones in our skies sooner rather than later, and that could be for deliveries, or for other reasons.
“These trials in Jersey will make sure the autonomous vehicles can be used safely in the same airspace as commercial aircraft.”
Technology start-up Volant Autonomy is working with Ports of Jersey, Digital Jersey and several other organisations on the scheme, funded by the UK government, which seeks to bring drone and air taxi operations into more general use.
Speaking in Digital Jersey’s annual review, director of Volant Autonomy Capt Anthony Lawrenson said that during the trial they would set up a “temporary restricted area so that we can trial these new technologies off the north coast of the Island”.
He added: “We’ve been particularly sympathetic toward any environmental issues. These aircraft are electric, very quiet, and we will be flying those in close co-ordination with Air Traffic Control to make sure that other aircraft stay away and we can operate safely.
“What we’ll do is fly these aircraft in relatively close proximity, initially just with uncrewed aircraft, so three, four, five at a time.
“Once we’re confident with that, we’re bringing in a crewed aircraft operated by an organisation that has a lot of experience in flying these special-type operations for research and development, just to show that we can bring crewed and uncrewed aircraft co-operating and flying interchangeably in the same piece of airspace.
“It’s not just a case of what you can do with the technology, but being able to provide evidence that you can do that consistently and at scale so that public confidence grows.”
Speaking to the JEP last year, Volant Autonomy’s chief executive, Dr David Cleaver, said that opportunities for drones extended beyond the testing and the company was expecting to “set up infrastructure that might persist beyond the project and enable new-use cases”.
