Israel’s National Drone Initiative, which first began its flights over urban areas in January 2021, launched on Sunday its third phase, in participation of five companies that operate autonomous drone networks.
This is the third stage in a series of eight demonstrations expected to take place during the coming two years, during which tens of thousands of sorties will take place in Israel’s skies.
This phase, with the participation of 16 Israeli companies and international representatives, includes 10 days of flights that will take place above residential areas in Tel Aviv, Jaffa, Ramat Sharon, Herzliya and the city Hadera, where the project was launched, while in parallel a flight transport will take place in Brazil, controlled by the management system in Israel.
The drones are expected to carry out around 300 flights per day and carry out different kinds of tasks on flight paths assigned by the joint control system, including the delivery of sushi, security missions for an emergency facility, ice-cream deliveries, and flights to deliver donated blood, platelets and plasma from the Magen David Adom (MDA) Blood Bank to Sheba-Tel HaShomer Hospital.
Dror Bin, CEO of Israel Innovation Authority, stated that the National Drone Initiative is “on its way to creating a globally leading ecosystem in this field, and Itamar Ben-Meir, CEO Ayalon Highways aerial control center, said that this new phase “constitutes a meaningful step for the National Drone Initiative
The joint flights will be operated by six companies alongside the Israeli Police, the National Fire Department and the IDF Home Front Command.
They will be autonomously managed by the Ayalon Highway Air Traffic Control Center, which facilitates the management and supervision system for airborne drones flying in the area, demonstrating a situation where dozens or even hundreds of drones fly across the skies on various missions, operating in uniform airspace.
The system will be able to prioritize the various drone flights and clear the airspace when a large aircraft enters or when one of the aircraft operated by the emergency services enters in the event of an emergency.
The initiative was established with the goal of advancing the deployment of drones for the benefit of the public to assist in reducing congestion on the roads, and to establish a national aerial network managed for the benefit of transporting medicines, vaccines, tests, and medical equipment, as well as retail shipments.