Skip to main content

U.K. has plans to create aerial drone zone superhighways to contain UAV traffic

The technology needed to drive delivery drones is already in existence, but laws have yet to catch up. To help take drone technology to the next step of mainstream adoption, the U.K. is currently in the process of establishing what could be the world’s first commercial drone corridor. This airspace will be available to any fully automated drones flying beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS), so long as it doesn’t require specialist hardware and conforms to basic technical regulations.

The unrestricted airspace — called the “Arrow Drone Zone” — will be located in the town of Reading, to the west of London, in the Thames Valley. The Drone Zone will be approximately 8 kilometers (5 miles) long and 500 meters (1,640 feet) wide. While it is referred to as a, well, zone for drones, it is technically unrestricted open airspace, meaning that drones and general aviation vehicles (read: airplanes and helicopters) will share the same space.

Related Videos
Drone Zone
Altitude Angel

Plans have been submitted to the U.K.’s Civil Aviation Authority, and, from the sound of things, the project is being fast-tracked — with “necessary infrastructure deployment” beginning within weeks. The site will be managed by drone airspace company Altitude Angel.

“Project Arrow and Arrow Drone Zones open the door to the next level in the evolution of [unmanned traffic management] and automated drone operations,” Richard Parker, CEO and founder of Altitude Angel, said in a statement. “The size of this step cannot be underestimated: BVLOS automated flight in unrestricted airspace is a very significant barrier to overcome in order to realize the vision of mass-commercial drone usage.”

While this is certainly a boundary-pushing development when it comes to the use of drones, it’s one of many initiatives around the world that are helping to prepare drone technology for prime time (and the preparedness of the general public along with it). Around the world, tests are already being carried out by leaders in fields like drone delivery to prove the feasibility of the tech. Should all go according to plan with this Drone Zone, it hopefully won’t be long before similar airspaces start opening up elsewhere. The future of your airborne Amazon deliveries might just depend on it.

Editors' Recommendations

Google is planning to test drones for fighting fires
google is planning to test drones for fighting fires firefighting

Google is already testing drone delivery services in various places around the world via its Wing unit, but now the company is considering using the same technology for fighting fires.

The Google Research Climate and Energy Group — also known as Google Research and separate to Wing — recently asked the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for permission to test a drone “at a confined private property in Firebaugh, California,” Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, February 3.

Read more
Autonomous drones are helping to keep a U.S. Air Force base in California secure
Easy Aerial drone

Travis Air Force, Easy Aerial partner up for Autonomous Drone Based Security Operations

Security is a big concern when it comes to the military, and the powers that be have no shortage of impressive, cutting-edge technologies they can call into service to help achieve this goal. We recently wrote about the deployments of dog robots to patrol Tyndall Air Force Base near to Panama City, Florida. Now Travis Air Force Base in California is testing out autonomous drones to help keep the goings-on at the military site away from prying eyes.

Read more
Robots could soon make up a quarter of U.K. army, top general suggests
robots could soon make up a quarter of uk army general says gladiator military robot

The British army could soon include a huge number of robots to help the country fight its battles.

While battalions are unlikely to feature a cavalry of autonomous gun-toting androids that look as if they've just broken free from a sci-fi movie set, an array of robots large and small could be incorporated into the army to help it with various operations on the battlefield.

Read more