According
to the press
release, 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.
This
CAAS-ST Aerospace partnership aims to build Singapore’s capabilities and
expertise to enable advanced UAS applications.
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.
The
following sectors have been identified as potential UAS applications:
(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 buildings facades to
enhance work efficiency and safety;
(4) Security
and Public Safety: Autonomous scheduled perimeter surveillance and tracking of
suspicious targets to improve situation awareness and shorten response time.
ST
Aerospace will provide a suite of technical services for system integration and
prototyping in the identified areas of interest.
“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,” President of ST
Aerospace Mr Lim Serh Ghee stated.
The
collaboration will also assist CAAS in its development of the safety regulatory
oversight framework for BVLOS UAS operations in Singapore.
Director-General
at CAAS Mr Kevin Shum, said, “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.”
The MOU was signed on the sidelines of Singapore Airshow
2018.
