A new drone delivery project is being led by the North Australia Centre for Autonomous Systems (NACAS) at Charles Darwin University (CDU). It is also supported by the Queensland Defence Science Alliance (QDSA) and will focus on solving the technical, logistical and regulatory challenges of integrating large, heavy-fuel cargo drones into the battlefield operating system.
“QDSA believes this particular project has real potential to solve some of the logistics distribution challenges in remote locations of Northern Australia that will benefit Defense, Queensland and the Northern Territory,” said QDSA Director, Stuart Blackwell.
NACAS will work with Queensland uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) manufacturer SAIDYNAMICS to adapt their hybrid 2-stroke engine drone for long-range, cold-chain cargo operations.
“This research reinforces the importance of the Northern Territory to our nation’s defence security and strategic importance in the Indo-Pacific,” explained Northern Territory Chief Minister and Minister for Defence NT, Lia Finocchiaro.