SCR, a company of the everis Aerospace, Defense and Security group, has obtained the first authorization in Spain to perform flights beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) with drones of more than 2 kg of maximum take-off weight (MTOW).
The permission, which is indefinite, has been granted by the Spanish Aviation Safety and Security Agency (AESA), an institution of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda.
This authorization will allow SCR and everis to offer continuous services with high-performance drones beyond the remote pilot’s visual range (more than 500 meters away according to current legislation) or without direct visual contact with the aircraft. In this context, the permission will especially facilitate the use of fixed-wing systems in operations where, until now, their use was limited to specific and restricted actions.
This authorization issued by AESA represents an important advance for the industry, since it will facilitate the execution of professional services with a greater variety of unmanned platforms.
Until now, operations out of sight with drones of more than 2 kg were only allowed in experimental format, with the sole purpose of conducting proofs of concept or demonstrations. However, from now on SCR will be able to offer professional services continuously with platforms up to 25 kg.
Some of the applications of this type of operations will be missions related to inspection and security, since they will allow the use of drones specially designed for the monitoring and surveillance of large areas of land.
This is the case, for example, of SCR’s UAS TUCÁN, a fixed-wing platform developed for reconnaissance tasks, location and tracking, surveillance and intelligence, for which it incorporates multispectral, visual and thermal cameras.
everis and SCR have already used TUCÁN in recent months to carry out several projects with different clients that have included, among other missions, the surveillance of motorways or the inspection of gas pipelines.
In addition to this authorization to fly out of sight, SCR has also recently received permission to carry out night flights with multicopters, which further increases the range of capabilities and services that everis and SCR offer their clients.
