Wedgetail Aerospace awarded additional funding to continue trials of resupply between Pilbara centres by drone

An Australian drone service provider has been awarded additional Federal funding to continue trials of resupplying essential and time-sensitive cargo from, and between, regional centres in the Pilbara by drone. WA-based Wedgetail Aerospace was one of 12 projects to share nearly $13.5 million under round two of the Australian Government’s Emerging Aviation Technology Partnerships program, which supports emerging aviation technology to address community needs. The organisation received funding in round one of the scheme to support developing a facility to operate large category drones greater than 150kg and operate them in regional areas. In an Australian first, Wedgetail Aerospace received unique approval from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority last year to operate large-scale drones in commercial airspace, becoming the first and only operator of 150kg drones. Wedgetail Aerospace chief operating officer Dominic Letts said the second round of funding would further develop the skill sets achieved in round one and support its trials of resupply to regional centres in the Pilbara. “For us, we’re going to do that by procuring people the skill set and the approvals to do that, then doing our first resupply by drone trial from Karratha to Roebourne,” he said. “The aim is to ensure that we’re doing it safely and effectively, then after that, the combination of the project is to conduct a trial, resupply by drone from Karratha Airport to either Port Hedland Airport or Onslow Airport. “We’re deliberately doing that to the airport because we want to demonstrate the integration of uncrewed aviation with crewed aviation. “If we can share the infrastructure, it’s going to save a lot of costs to us and others building specific uncrewed or drone infrastructure.” The project is currently running and is due to culminate no later than the end of June 2026.