Huge Potential for Drone Delivery of Medical Supply

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Delivering medical cargo and supplies has been one of the lifesaving missions of unmanned aerial vehicles. Early public acceptance of drone delivery networks in urban areas will revolve around hospitals. And once drones can safely and reliably carry blood and medical supplies, that will pave the way to other kinds of drone deliveries. “That linear network where drones can operate between hospitals … would also have Amazon and anyone else that could meet the requirements to operate,” evaluates John Walker, an aerospace consultant, according to npr.org.

Airbus and International SOS, the world’s leading medical and security risk services company, have recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to jointly study the viability of using aircraft or unmanned systems for this purpose.

The studies will look into both urban to rural and ship to shore deliveries. Airbus and International SOS will thus collaborate on safe, secure and enterprise drone delivery for a hub to hub distribution of medical cargo, compliant with local regulatory bodies. International SOS have global operations worldwide in an emergency evacuation or medical resupplying, according to the announcement on Airbus website. The MOU refers to using drones approved by the aviation authorities with a higher than 5 kg payload.

Potential medical cargo delivery pilot cases are being explored in Singapore and Indonesia, and Airbus and International SOS will work with the local civil aviation and maritime authorities in both countries to develop these capabilities. If successful, this could be extended to International SOS operations globally.

Other potential areas of cooperation under the MOU include support for mobile hospitals, space and satellite services.