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Drone Rangers to monitor UK infrastructure
The U.K. Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has given authority to drone consulting firm Drone Major to conduct the U.K.’s first beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone flights over the U.K.’s critical national infrastructure, initially some stretches of railway.
Drone Major said in a statement in June that this is the first time long-distance approved BVLOS drones have been given the green light to fly over the critical infrastructure.
The drones will initially patrol over the U.K.’s rail networks, and there’s the potential to monitor other areas related to energy, utilities, defence, border management, and sensitive national infrastructure surveillance. Trials will now begin on a 7.5 mile stretch of rail between Wolverhampton and Sandwell & Dudley Station in partnership with Network Rail.
The company says the trials have the potential to significantly speed up the verification and interception of trespassers, thereby reducing delays to trains in a critical and very busy area, potentially also saving lives, as well as vastly improving the speed and efficiency of the U.K. passenger and freight railway services.
Jonathan Walker, Head of Infrastructure and Planning Policy at Logistics UK commented: "The use of electric drones to monitor the UK’s key infrastructure sites presents an innovative and eco-friendly alternative to traditional security monitoring methods, aligning with the UK's wider sustainability goals.
"This initiative will present interesting findings for the logistics industry on how this technology may be more widely deployed in the future.”
Published On: 03/07/2025 14:00:00
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