The demand within the global drone logistics and transportation industry is rising at a stellar pace in recent times. The need for aviation and military drones has created a juggernaut of possibilities for growth within this market. Moreover, new applications of drones have come to the fore across several industries. This trend has paved way for increased investments to flow into the global drone logistics and transportation market.
That’s the conclusion of a recent review by Transparency Market Research (TMR), which decoded some of the leading factors pertaining to the growth of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). According to TMR, the importance of aerial inspection of terrains for a multitude of industries has driven market demand. Technological enhancements in the structuring and functionalities of UAVs have additionally impelled demand.
The TMR review is not confined solely to logistics and transportation, as it also delves into the relevance of drones across military, aviation, construction and entertainment sectors.
Advancements in Military Technologies. The use of drones in the defense sector has gathered momentum in recent times. The need for increased surveillance and reconnaissance in the military industry has played to the advantage of the vendors operating in the global market. Increasing anarchy among regional territories has also generated humongous demand within the global drone market, which can therefore count on increased revenues in the years to follow.
Use of Drones in Site Inspections. The construction industry has become a haven of new possibilities and technologies. Drones are extensively used to oversee operations in that sector, with the need to inspect terrains and unexplored lands creating a boatload of possibilities within the market.
UAVs in Logistics and Transportation is Looking Up. Recent drone developments in the sector cited in the TMR review include:
-Rising investments in drones by the likes of Amazon, Walmart, Uber, Google, FedEx and UPS are ushering in technological advancements and design innovations.
-Drone strategies being employed by Uber Technologies Inc., Flirtey, Zipline International, Drone Delivery Canada and Matternet. When it comes to just the latter two, Drone Delivery Canada has agreed to serve Moose Cree First Nation communities, while Matternet and Boeing HorizonX Ventures have partnered in drone delivery as well.
-A Beijing-based online business firm, which since 2016 has operated under an agreement to deliver commercial drones in four main regions spread over China, being online to have built 150 drone delivery services in the southwestern Sichuan region by the end of this year.
-The same firm planning to expand to Japan and Indonesia.
-India’s Zomato, which took over the drone startup TechEagle, developing a hub-to-hub transportation service supported by hybrid multi-rotor drones.
The Bottom Line. The revenue index of the drone logistics and transportation market is projected to improve in the times to come. Learn more about this, including industry challenges, at: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/drone-logistics-and-transportation-market.html.
More Drone Developments. Speaking of UPS, the Atlanta-based delivery and logistics giant earlier this year announced a series of new initiatives and partnerships aimed at upgrading its global logistics network that includes the expansion of drone operations in the healthcare sector. An initiative to test drone delivery use cases with Henry Schein, a worldwide distributor of medical and dental supplies, will allow UPS to focus on UAVs for one of its key business sectors. A huge factor in these tests will be ensuring successful deliveries of essential healthcare products to destinations where traditional road transport may be less effective or timely, such as remote communities or areas impacted by a natural disaster, according to UPS.
The UPS Flight Forward subsidiary drone business, which was only formed last year, received a highly-restricted air carrier certification from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that allows for approved UPS drones to fly over people, at night and out of the operator’s line of sight. After granting UPS Flight Forward the special certification, the FAA authorized the company to operate a drone delivery program at WakeMed Hospital in Raleigh, North Carolina. Meanwhile, UPS in February expanded its Flight Forward service to the University of California at San Diego Health. That’s the result of another Mountain View, California-based Matternet partnership. That drone program will be used to transport various medical products between health centers and labs, with the drones following predetermined flight paths within visual line of sight per FAA rules. (Matt Coker)
Thank the Military Again. Yates Electrospace Corp. (YEC), whose Silent Arrow platform is bringing disruptive innovation to the heavy payload, unmanned cargo delivery market, announced the design completion and specifications of a wide-body version of its successful GD-2000 cargo delivery drone. With a full-scale, flight-ready version of the latter having been shown off at the Defense & Security Equipment International show in London in September 2019, the coming out for the GD-2000’s bigger sister is set for the July 20-24 run of the Farnborough International Airshow in the UK (coronavirus willing, of course).
Aliso Viejo, California-based YEC responded to real-time demand from U.S. and allied foreign government Special Operators, including the U.S. Army 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR), for the development of the new wide-body craft. It will be 60 percent larger than the standard Silent Arrow GD-2000, with a 2,000-pound gross weight; a 48-foot wingspan (among four spring-deployed wings that are stowed in a 3.5×3.5×13-foot fuselage); and a 140-cubic-foot cargo bay that can handle up to 1,250 pounds (or five times more weight in life-saving supplies, medicines and tactical cargo than the GD-2000).
“The YEC engineering team used current flight data from the inaugural GD-2000 product line along with extensive computational fluid dynamics analysis to optimize the aerodynamics and glide ratio of this rather massive cargo delivery platform,” says Chip Yates, YEC’s founder and CEO, who noted an accelerated schedule led to the delivery of development units by the end of this past March and the setting of 10 flight test units throughout the second and third quarters of 2020. Don’t be surprised if Yates’ latest creation is a hit: The original Silent Arrow was named one of six “Unmanned Cargo Aircraft to Watch” by Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine in their 2020 Aerospace & Defense issue. (MC)