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UK Assesses Drone Role in Search and Rescue Missions

Aug 23, 2019

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The authority that oversees search and rescue operations in the UK, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) plans to assess the potential use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) for search and rescue missions. Using UAVs would improve the efficiency and effectiveness of MCA operations whilst reducing the risk to MCA personnel.

Requirements include ability to search for a missing person or vessel up to 10 km away from shore in low-light, misty and/or windy conditions. According to the tender document, potential uses of the UAV also include pollution assessment and law enforcement support.

A contract would be awarded in October for trial due to last until the end of 2020.

This is not the first time the MCA has explored the use of drones in SAR missions. Looking for innovation in the field, in 2018, it teamed with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution for an exercise, where they jointly demonstrated the use of UAV in rescuing people from the sea, according to navalnews.com.

More recently, the service also collaborated with QinetiQ on how drone technology can strengthen SAR missions. During recent demonstrations, QinetiQ’s Manned-Unmanned Teaming (MUM-T) solution allowed MCA control room staff in the National Maritime Operations Centre, Fareham, to safely and securely control the sensor of an unmanned system in flight at Llanbedr airfield in North West Wales – over 200 miles away. The lessons learned from this activity have generated insight into how to effectively deploy small unmanned air systems in future search and rescue missions.

“The MCA is always looking to understand how new technologies and ways of working can improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the services we deliver whilst reducing risk to our personnel. This joint activity enabled us to gain a much deeper understanding of how information collected by unmanned systems can be shared effectively throughout our organisation and beyond,” Phil Hanson, from the MCA, said.