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The program sees a range of commercial drone applications from medicaland commerce to passenger flights. Pic via Getty Images.

Elsight gears up to join Israeli dronedemonstrations in the new year

Tech

7 hours ago | Special Report

Last month, Elsightwas selected as one of just 10 companies to participate in the second phase ofIsrael’s National Drone Initiative, nabbing a grant of up to US$450,000 ($665,210), andit’s almost time for the program to commence.

The ultimate goalof the initiative is to reduce road congestion in Israel by developing acontinuous operating model that will enable low-altitude passenger-carryingflights throughout the country.

Demonstrations willkick off in January 2023, consisting of one week of flights across the countryper month for two years, with limited flight tests in areas without humanpresence before building up to sparsely populated areas and then eventuallydemonstrating services within urban areas.

High product maturity the key criteria

Elsight(ASX:ELS) stood out because of its “high product maturity and readiness to participate in our very large demonstrations” Israel National Drone Initiative Technology Leader on behalf of the Israel Innovation Authority, Ofer Lapid, said.

“[The selectioncriteria also included] adherence to the emerging open standards thatgovern the unmanned controlled airspace published by The AmericanSociety for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards,” he said.

Elsight will beexperimenting with operating large drones intended to carry passengers andheavy cargo in a single-managed airspace.

Opening up urban airspace

With the grant,Elsight will also look to expand its proprietary Halo BVLOS (Beyond Visual Lineof Sight) connectivity system.

The plan is todevelop additional and next-generational Halo features, including additionalRemote ID support, hyper-accurate Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS),and the next generation of long-term evolution (LTE) and 5G modems for theHalo.

Notably, theInitiative sees a range of vital commercial applications for Elsight’s –and other pilot participants – unmanned aerial systems (UAS).

“UAS has greatpotential for maintaining commercial delivery applications for the medicalsector and for the delivery of commerce,” the Israel Innovation Authority says.

“Hospitals haveexpensive drugs that must be administered fast and cannot always be stored inthe hospital’s storage units.

“This gives the UASdelivery a clear advantage over traditional means of transportation andpresents an opportunity for UAS to be a game changer in the medical supplychain of the future.”

DroneUp deal just the beginning

Enabling dronesdelivery in urban airspace also opens up endless possibilities for delivery ofgoods and commerce allowing retailers to join UAS companies and provide a fastand secure supply chain.

In fact, thecompany is already well down this product pathway, securing a contract earlierthis year with DroneUp, who were chosen by US Shopping giant Walmart to enable drone delivery of groceries and other supplies including Covid-19 test kits to US households.

And Elsightrecently raised $8 million through an offer of secured convertible notes to a range of well recognised Australian institutions and sophisticated investors to build on its successful 2022.

The plan is to usethe funds for capital expenditure to ensure the company is able to satisfy theunmanned market demands while heading for mainstream commercial adaptation.

This article wasdeveloped in collaboration with Elsight Limited, a * advertiser at thetime of publishing.

This articledoes not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtainingindependent advice before making any financial decisions.