Approval for flying urban BVLOS operations under the CAAI’s NAAMA project in Hadera, Haifa District.
As part of the NAAMA Project that we wrote about recently, High Lander has received approval from the Civil Aviation Authority of Israel (CAAI, the Israeli equivalent to the FAA) to conduct and coordinate beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone operations over populated urban areas, including both residential and commercial zones.
What is BVLOS?
BVLOS is an acronym for beyond visual line of sight, and applies to any and all drone operations in which the drones will be operating remotely from any pilot or command center, whether the operations are autonomous or piloted. Conducting safe BVLOS missions is an essential step in the march towards fully-enabled drone operations, but the inherent risks in flying over populated areas have held regulators back from widespread authorization.
The FAA, for example, has only issued a handful of such approvals, and the CAAI has never issued such an authorization – until now. High Lander received the first-ever CAAI BVLOS authorization for urban areas and is already busy running tests and fulfilling actual missions in Hadera.
Why High Lander?
High Lander’s Mission Control platform allows drone operators to remotely control all aspects of a wide variety of missions: delivery, first responder support, robotic aerial security, HLS, aerial inspection, and more. The real-time dashboard provides complete control, allowing multiple drones to fly multiple missions simultaneously and autonomously, yet also preserves the ability for pilots to remotely take over any individual drones for more specific actions.
What makes High Lander’s solution truly special goes beyond BVLOS capabilities; Mission Control is great for empowering drone operations, but their Universal UTM system is what unlocks the next generation of drone flight. Utilizing machine learning, AI, and other breakthrough technologies, Universal UTM allows multiple drone operations to fly safely in overlapping airspace, seamlessly rerouting drones to avoid collisions, no-fly zones, and other obstacles.
This means that where drone delivery networks are busy delivering everything from medical supplies to pizza orders, first responders can still deploy drones on scene for emergency support, and neither of those operations will interfere with regular security patrols or any other missions, whether they’re prescheduled or ad hoc.
Follow Us!
We’re excited to take another step forward in bringing the incredible benefits of drone technology to urban areas. Be sure to follow us on LinkedIn so you can stay updated on everything that we’re doing, especially the ongoing NAAMA event.