Dato’ Lester Tay Kean Boon (Chairman of World UAV Federation- Malaysia Chapter and President from Malaysia UAV Developments Association- MUDA) welcomed experts in drones and aviation field of expertise of 32 countries delegation from World UAV Federation, friends from all media, Government representatives and industry players around the globe, including 7,000 licensed UAV companies from Mainland China. The international distinguished speakers line up from various countries and regulator authorities like China, Japan, Greece, Romania, France, Belgium, EASA, CAAM, JUPEM, NACSA, MDEC and etc. The highlights of the international summit focus on 1st Virtual World UAV Summit 2021; the Launching of Collaboration between Unifly and Strat Aero Malaysia (SAM) on Unmanned Traffic Management System (UTMS) and the Launching of the Unifly Broadcast Location & Identification Platform (BLIP).
The emergence of Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) or commonly known as drones is changing the way we configure and manage our skies. The drones with new shapes and capabilities operate at much lower altitudes, and the operations of these drones have multiplied by day. Therefore, an Air Traffic Management (ATM) System need to have another set of ATM called Unmanned Aircraft Traffic Management Systems or the UTMS. UTMS is therefore now a critical component to enabling these new aerial vehicles, i.e. the drones to safely enter and share the airspace.
Dato’ Sri Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, Chairman SAM (and also the Former Chairman for Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia- CAAM) described SAM is an established drone’s service provider whilst Unifly from Belgium is the most respected and proven track record global UTMS solution provider. Together we will connect the drone operators with the UTMS authority for safe and secure integration of the drones into the national airspace. SAM launched the Unifly BLIP (Broadcast Location and Identification Platform), a high-quality drone tracking device providing maximum tracking accuracy, minimal update latency and secured communications to Unifly’s cloud services. It reports the drone position with identifications and a series other flight parameter using LTE (Long-Term Evolution) Cat 1 cellular network connectivity.
The SAM and Unifly collaboration will also explore concepts of drone’s operations, data exchange requirements, and a supporting framework to enable multiple beyond line-of-sight drone operations (BVLOS) at low altitude of under 400 feet above ground level (AGL) in airspace where CAAM air traffic services are not provided. It also supports air traffic control operations registration and operations approval requirements for drone operations. Therefore, both SAM and Unifly hope the regulator, ATM authority and the industry will able to adopt this UTMS not only for the safety and the efficiency of drone’s operations but also for the other airspace users as well. With the implementation of the UTMS and usage of Unifly BLIP, drones’ operations is expected to increase both in the recreational and commercial domain, inevitably will create job opportunities, added by Dato’ Sri Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, Chairman SAM.