CAAS and ST Aerospace collaborate to test beyond visual line of sight drone operations in Singapore

Mr Lim Serh Ghee, President, ST Aerospace (left) and Mr Kevin Shum, Director-General, Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (right) during the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on the collaboration that will facilitate the development of Beyond Visual Line Of Sight Unmanned Aircraft System operations in Singapore’s urban environment.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and ST Aerospace have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will facilitate the development of Beyond Visual Line Of Sight (BVLOS) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) operations in Singapore’s urban environment. The MOU was signed by Mr Kevin Shum, CAAS Director-General and Mr Lim Serh Ghee, ST Aerospace President on the sidelines of the Singapore Airshow 2018.

Under the MOU, CAAS and ST Aerospace will collaborate on the study and development of new concepts, procedures, and technologies that will enable BVLOS UAS operations in Singapore's urban environment including within or near an aerodrome. ST Aerospace will provide a suite of technical services for system integration and prototyping in the identified areas of interest. The collaboration will also assist CAAS in its development of the safety regulatory oversight framework for BVLOS UAS operations in Singapore.

For a start, CAAS and ST Aerospace have identified potential UAS applications spanning across the following sectors:

1. Maritime: Port crane inspection and defect detection using an autonomous end-to-end UAS solutions to enhance safety and efficiency of port operations;
2. Aviation: Automation of aircraft inspection and defect detection using UAS to improve fault tracking and reduce costs, and aircraft turnaround time;
3. Construction: Infrastructure inspection of high-rise building façade to enhance work safety and efficiency; and
4. Security and Public Safety: Autonomous scheduled perimeter surveillance and tracking of suspicious targets to improve situation awareness and shorten response time.

    

“The UAS industry is fast evolving, with a whole host of technological innovations. CAAS is cognisant of the potential that UAS offers. We seek to collaborate with businesses to push the boundaries of its applications, in particular, in the urban environment. Such collaborations, including this CAAS-ST Aerospace partnership, build Singapore’s capabilities and expertise to enable advanced UAS applications,” said Mr Kevin Shum, CAAS Director-General.

Mr Lim Serh Ghee, President of ST Aerospace, added, “As ST Aerospace continues to develop advanced UAS technologies and capabilities, we are happy to work closely with CAAS who has lent strong support while showing great confidence in our engineering capabilities and industry experience in UAS solutions. We are positive that this collaboration will help in overcoming the technological and regulatory barriers to BVLOS UAS operations in Singapore’s urbanised environments and accelerate our development of value-added propositions in UAS solutions to customers.”  

About the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS)