The Thunderbird: Lifesaving Beyond Sight report, published in December 2024, outlines the United Kingdom’s advancements in integrating Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone operations into emergency services. These drones are pivotal in enhancing situational awareness, locating missing persons, and delivering critical medical supplies like defibrillators.

The report highlights several key trials:

• Project SWARM: Evaluates drone swarming technology for fire detection and coordinated response.
• National Project CALEUS: Conducts four drone-in-a-box trials in the West Midlands, Southampton, Gravesend, and Norwich, assessing various systems and procedures.
• Project Skyway: Develops a drone ‘superhighway’ connecting Reading, Oxford, Milton Keynes, and Coventry to facilitate large-scale BVLOS operations.
• National Police Chiefs’ Council Initiatives: Tests sub-25kg drones for policing applications and explores the use of drones over expansive areas alongside traditional aircraft.

The report identifies ten priority themes across five core areas essential for the successful deployment of BVLOS drones in emergency scenarios:

1. Assurance & Regulation: Addressing drone ‘state aircraft’ use, ground risk management, and airspace integration.
2. Emergency-Specific Systems: Developing specialized hardware, software, and payload delivery methods.
3. Operational Integration: Facilitating data sharing and inter-agency BVLOS coordination beyond existing protocols.
4. Commercial Scalability: Assessing the cost-benefit applicability for emergency BVLOS operations.
5. Public Engagement & Use: Enhancing public perception and community acceptance.

The Thunderbird initiative emphasizes stakeholder collaboration, open innovation, and shared learning to expedite the routine use of lifesaving BVLOS drone operations across the UK.

ARPAS-UK welcomes and supports The Thunderbird Project’s paper.

Read more articles about Drones in the Emergency Services.

10 December 2024